In the Shade of a Sakura Tree
by AlmostLover321
Summary: A new school has just been built and Yuuri's been accepted. How? He doesn't know, but this school is full of foreigners that he seems to know. He just can't remember who they are or their connection to him. AU
1. Chapter 1: Julia Academy

_This was an idea I had a couple years back. I had started writing it and never finished it, but I think I want to give it a try. I'll try to make it different from other AU high school Kyo Kara Maoh! stories, but I can't help if there's a slight similarity. _

_There are pairings in this story, but I'm not quite sure yet who will be paired with whom. There will be Yuuram, but this is not a story based on just their relationship. There are also characters I've created in this story. One is Meiline (pronounced like may line). She is a major character in this story. If I finish this story, you'll learn more about her as the chapters progress._

_I'm started to write too much before the actual story. Sigh. Anyway, rated T for later and I may change it to M, but don't count on it. Kyo Kara Maoh! and most (but not all) characters don't belong to me._

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><p>I rounded the corner and came face to face with my new worst nightmare, Julia Academy. A week after school let out for summer vacation, I received a letter in the mail from Julia Academy, asking me to transfer to their school. Mom ("Call me mama, Yuu-chan.") was absolutely thrilled, but I only glared at the letter with suspicion. This must be some sort of cruel joke to make fun of me.<p>

They had just finished building the school about a year ago. It was only a ten minute walk from my house. While they were in the midst of construction, many rumors sprung up at my school, especially from the gossiping girls in my class. Apparently, it was supposed to become a very elite school that would accept kids in all grades from all over the world.

A article was placed in the newspaper the day of its official opening. The article stated the academy was named after a woman who wanted to build her own school, but she died because of illness before she could achieve this task. It further explained that her brother decided to finalize the plans she left behind. I skimmed over the rest of the article. It mentioned that the woman, Julia von Wincott, wanted to build the school here in Japan because she loved Japanese culture and she wanted to share the culture with all her students. I glanced back up at the top of the article where there was a black and white picture of a beautiful, young woman. It was a shame the picture wasn't colored.

I stared up at the academy. Even though it was the middle of summer vacation, it sure didn't look like it. Some students were roaming around the campus in shorts and tank tops, fanning themselves and others while sweat dripped off their skin. There was a huge assortment of people here. Some were little kids, running around and playing tag while others were sophisticated teenagers who gossiped under the shade of a sakura tree. Blondes, brunettes, and red heads filled the school grounds. I also saw others who had almost unrealistic hair colors. A girl that looked as if her hair was green walked past me and gave me a gentle smile. None of these people looked Japanese. I wonder if that means they weren't going home for vacation. I tore my gaze away from the school ground and looked down the street.

My childhood friend, Murata Ken, was supposed to show me around the school. My mom ("It's mama.") had arranged it while I was at baseball practice. Murata's been a student at this academy since it opened. I suspected he would be accepted. That brings me to Murata's strange behavior. When I showed him the letter, I expected some sort of joke to slip out of his mouth, but he just smiled. Ever since he entered this academy, he keeps flashing a knowing smile. He's always been like that since I first met him, but it's really noticeable now.

"Shibuya!" I heard Murata's voice call out.

I turned to see Murata racing down the street towards me with three rough-looking delinquents chasing after him. A groan escaped my lips. Murata's always getting himself in trouble with bullies. I refuse to interfere today, though. I still haven't forgotten about the trip to the bathroom a couple weeks ago. I had passed out and woke up to find a crowd of people surrounding me, including Murata. My classmates from school were still cracking toilet jokes when I happen across them. I don't know which is worse, the Harajuku Furi cliché or those stupid toilet jokes.

"Are you three trying to cause trouble?" a voice asked from somewhere.

A man was sitting on top of the brick wall in front of the academy. He had the brightest orange hair I've ever seen. He jumped down from the wall and landed in between Murata and the three delinquents. Murata waved at the man before closing the distance between us, grabbing my arm, and pulling me within the school grounds. Several faces turned in our direction and stared curiously. A couple of people waved. They must've known Murata. A beautiful blonde was walking toward us. Was it a boy or a girl?

"Hello Wolfram," Murata said cheerfully.

The blonde quickly glared at him before setting his glare upon me. He stormed passed us and left the school grounds. I glanced around to see people whispering. I shifted my gaze to Murata who shrugged his shoulders. Was it odd for the blonde to act like that?

I ignored the whispers and caught sight of a person standing in front of the academy's entrance with a worried expression plastered on their face. This person (I honestly couldn't tell if the person was a he or a she) looked almost identical to the woman from that article in the newspaper. I approached the person (Seriously! Is it a boy or girl?), but his gaze (I got close enough to see a completely flat chest.) seemed to be staring into the distance. A frown loomed on his lips.

"Um. Excuse me," I said as Murata appeared at my side.

The man's gaze snapped toward me and he gave a weak smile. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Mr. von Wincott. Is something wrong?" Murata responded.

The frown returned. "I can't find Rinji. I told him to stay close, but he seems to have run off somewhere. He knows better than to leave the grounds."

"Rinji's your son, right? Greta stayed for summer vacation. Maybe he's playing with her or he could possibly be with Anissina," Murata suggested, shivering towards the end.

"Oh! I hadn't thought of that. Thank you," Mr. von Wincott said, sighing in relief. " By the way, you shouldn't call your teachers by their first names."

"Miss von Karbelnikoff, then. Anyway, I'm here to show around Shibuya," Murata replied, gesturing towards me.

"Ah. Mr. Shibuya. Yes. The possible transfer student. Welcome. I'm the headmaster, Delchias von Wincott. If you have any questions, feel free to come to my office," he said, smiling. "And, in the future, if you happen across my son, will you send him to my office?"

I nodded as he turned back in the school. I glanced back at the students scattered across the grass to see the blonde had returned. He was glaring at me, but as soon as his eyes caught mine, he looked away. He was really beautiful. It seemed impossible that he could actually be a boy. Murata broke me out of my trance as he pushed me into the school to start my tour.

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><p><em>Was it bad? Was it good? Should I even bother to write some more? I want to know.<em>

_HeeHee. A mention of Wolfram, but it's not a promise they'll end up together._

_I'm not entirely sure if Delchias is Julia's brother's name. It took me forever to find even a hint and I couldn't remember what episode he was in. If that's not his name, can someone please tell me? Thank you._

_I will warn everyone who reads this story. I might not write the next chapter for a while. I have other paper/stories to write for college. I don't even get breaks for summer. :(_


	2. Chapter 2: The labyrinth

_Sorry for the wait. I've been really, really, really busy. I barely have time to think anymore. :( Anyway, this is chapter 2. It's longer (I think twice as long) than the first chapter. I have to warn you the characters might be OOC (out of character). I had written this storyline before, but I decided to take one of my original stories and combine it with this one. Again. Sorry for any OOCness. _

_For those who wrote reviews. THANK YOU! :) I love to know what people think of my stories. I really appreciate it._

_Kyo Kara Maoh! and most (but not all) characters don't belong to me._

The school was huge! It looked big from the outside, but the inside looked enormous and everything looked expensive; expensive enough for the rich to think it looked expensive. I stared in awe at everything Murata led me through. There were so many hallways that the map I tried to draw in my head looked like a labyrinth. I was led past classroom after classroom. Murata would mutter little things about the classrooms like what grade occupied them and who the teachers were. He finally slowed his pace as we reached the classrooms for our grade. He pointed out his classroom and then pointed at my would-be classroom down the hall a little ways past a door that looked as if fog was seeping out of it from the cracks. As we approached the door, Murata hastily pushed me past it. We stopped in front of my would-be classroom a few yards away from the peculiar door.

"Murata, what is that?" I asked, pointing at the door.

"Shibuya, some things are better left unsaid," Murata replied, situating his glasses.

I stared at him, glanced over at the foggy door, and returned my gaze upon Murata.

He sighed. "That's the chemistry lab. Anissina...er...Miss von Karbelnikoff, our science teacher, spends most of her time in there. If you know what's best for yourself, you'll stay away. Being An- Miss von Karbelnikoff's guinea pig is something no one should even wish on their worst enemy."

Suddenly, the foggy door slammed open. A man with a long, dark grey ponytail burst out of the room running down the hallway toward us at full speed. As he passed us, I glanced back at the newly opened door. A man that looked like a model with lavender hair (Lavender? Is it really real or is it dyed? If it's real, where were they born?) stumbled from the room and almost immediately collapsed to the floor. A woman with long pinkish red hair (Seriously! First, green. Then, lavender. Now this! What's next? A kid with white hair?) pulled back in a ponytail peeked out into the hallway. A smile crept on her lips as she caught sight of us. I did not like the glint in her eyes. I felt chills travel down my spine. She ran towards us and Murata slightly cringed. Could she really be that bad?

"You saw him, right? Which way did Gwendal go, Ken? Don't even think about lying. If you do, I'll have to use you," she said, widening her smile.

Without hesitation, Murata and I pointed down the hallway behind us. I don't know if this lady is as bad as Murata acts like she is, but something tells me questioning it would be a bad idea. We watched her disappear down the hallway, looking every direction. She almost looked like a little kid playing hide-and-go-seek.

"Ken?" I asked, remembering the lady, Miss von Karbelnikoff, calling him by his first name.

"I go by my first name here since every other student here does. Anissina is the only teacher that calls by first name, though," Murata replied.

"She seems..." I start, but trail off for loss of words.

"Like an energetic demon," Murata suggested.

I nodded, hoping that man named Gwendal would escape. No doubt about it, Miss von Karbelnikoff is dangerous to be around. I'll have to remember to stay away. A loud boom filled the hallways, followed by a scream. Murata laughed nervously and pulled me into the classroom. To our surprise, someone was already in the classroom. A boy (?) with long white blonde hair occupied one of the desks. He glanced up at us. A pair of sunglasses were positioned on his nose. He smiled, stood up, slipped past us, and left the room. As the boy closed the door, I caught a glimpse of Miss von Karbelnikoff dragging the man with the dark grey ponytail.

"Uh...Anissina...she's not _that_ bad. She only acts like that when she's inventing something. Other than that, she's not so bad to be around unless she thinks you're a slacker. Although, Gisela is worse to be around if you're thought to be a slacker." Murata paused as if remembering something. "Anissina's inventions usually fail, but occasionally she'll invent something that actually works."

"Inventions?" I questioned, wandering why she was using the chemistry lab.

"Yeah. She's not a chemist, but an inventor," Murata pointed out.

"Then, why the chemistry lab?" I asked.

"It was always empty. There's another one on the second floor that everyone uses. No one has used that one since the academy first opened. From some rumors I've heard, within the first week of school, a weird smell poured from that room. A girl in my class told me they saw Mr. von Christ, that lavender-haired guy from earlier, mixing something together at that time. I doubt it's true. Why would a history teacher be mixing chemicals?" Murata explained, pulling on that smile of his.

I ignored this. "What kind of inventions?"

Murata replied with a nervous laugh. "Like I said, some things are better left unsaid."

He left the room having said that and I chased after him. He showed me many other places, including the cafeteria, where four cooks, named Effe, Doria, Lasagna, and Sangria, were ready to prepare anything you wanted at any time you asked, the library which was one of the biggest rooms in the school, and the grounds behind the school. There were tennis courts, basketball courts, a track, soccer fields, a swimming pool, and even volleyball courts with sand, but none of those mattered. What mattered was the baseball field that laid before me. This school really was amazing. Words could not even begin to describe this place. Murata was amidst listing all the sports and clubs the school had, but my thoughts droned out his voice. I always thought Julia Academy was solely on academics and didn't have sports. What the heck? I need to stop listening to rumors. Ah! What am I going to do now? I wasn't even planning on transferring to this school all because of that. What should I do now that my reason to decline is gone? I don't want to leave my friends and teammates, but Shori mentioned having an opportunity to attend a school like this doesn't happen every day. It's not like I'll never see the others ever again. This opportunity stills bugs me, though. Why me?

"Murata," I said, interrupting his continuous list.

"What?" he asked.

"I want to talk to Mr. von Wincott," I answered.

Murata stared at me for a moment and I could swear I saw his glasses flash when his knowing smile spread across his lips. "I'll show you to his office then."

Instead of going back in the back doors we came out of, we walked around the side of the school. Along the way, Murata pointed out the dorm buildings. He indicated which building contained what age group and gender. We passed a playground for the little kids. Two teenagers occupied a pair of swings. One was the green-haired girl that smiled at me before. The other was a bald guy who seemed to tense up whenever the green-haired girl opened her mouth. Soon, we in front of the school again. I was shocked to see that the grounds had almost completely emptied. There was still a small group assembled under the sakura tree. They consisted of three young kids and the glaring blonde, but...he was smiling. He looked like an angel. I could literally feel my heart skip a beat. Wait! What? Gah! What am I thinking? He's a boy! He might be extraordinarily beautiful and angelic at glance, but something about him makes me shudder. He glanced up when he finally noticed our presence. The glared reappeared. Yep. There goes the angel.

"Ah! Rinji!" Murata called out.

One of the little kids turned around. I was surprised by the kid's looks to be bluntly honest. I didn't see much resemblance with his father. I wonder what Mrs. von Wincott looks like. Murata walked over to the group. I froze. I looked over at...what was his name...oh, yeah...Wolfram and saw his glare intensify as if daring me to move any closer. Okay...so joining Murata is a bad idea. I took a step backward and Wolfram frowned. Huh? He...frowned.

"Uh. Murata, I'm going ahead!" I yelled.

"But you'll get lost Shibuya!" Murata yelled back.

I ignored him and raced through the school's front doors. He was probably right. The labyrinth in my head looks like nothing, but a headache and I just walked through the front doors. The office should be somewhere around here at the front of the school. My eyes darted around in every direction in search for a sign. I small hand tugged on mine. A young girl with short, curly brown hair smiled up at me.

"I'm Greta," she said, pulling me to the right.

"I'm..." I started to say.

"Ken already told me, Yuuri," she interrupted.

Greta let go of my hand in front of a pair of oak double doors. Beside this door, on a plaque, Headmaster von Wincott was scrawled in gold lettering. I was about to thank Greta, but she was already walking through the doors. Mr. von Wincott looked up from his papers and smiled gently.

"Sorry, sir. Rinji's been with me," Greta apologized.

"Oh. Don't worry about it too much," Mr. von Wincott replied, hiding clear relief.

Greta bowed her head and turned to me. "We should hang out next time, Yuuri." She paused. "Wolfram doesn't hate you," she whispered and disappeared through the doors.

"Wolfram?" Mr. von Wincott questioned.

I turned back to him and shrugged. "It's nothing..."

Mr. von Wincott stared at me for a minute before gesturing towards the chairs across from him.

"Uh. This won't take long. I just wanted to know why I was asked to come to this school," I said.

Mr. von Wincott fidgeted in his seat. "Well...I wasn't the one who sent you the letter," he replied calmly.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"Shinou sent you the letter," he said.

"Who's Shinou?" I asked.

Mr. von Wincott pursed his lips. "He's someone higher than me."

I stared at him and waited for an explanation to come, but it never did. I bowed and turned to leave. I opened the door and glanced back at Mr. von Wincott. His mouth hung open like he wanted to say something, but he closed his mouth when his eyes caught mine and went back to whatever he was doing before we interrupted him. I luckily and surprisingly found my way out of the school. Greta returned to the sakura tree. Murata definitely must have sent her. Gee. You're so thoughtful, Murata. You don't even trust your own friend to find his own way Murata was no longer by the sakura tree...and neither was Wolfram. I looked around and found them both standing by the gate. Wolfram looked as if he was smelling something revolting. I cautiously joined the two, but ignored Wolfram's presence. He immediately left the ground in the same direction Murata and I were heading. He was about ten feet in front of us. What is his deal? Greta said he didn't hate me. Maybe she was saying that to make me feel better, but that wasn't the itch that was driving me insane at the moment. It was the itch out of reach, this Shinou guy.

"Hey, Murata. When I asked Mr. von Wincott why this school wants me, he mentioned a guy named Shinou. Do you know anyone named that?" I asked.

In front of us, Wolfram spun around. His face read nothing but pure awe. It soon changed to an unreadable expression and finally, into an anger really venomous and surrounded Wolfram with a black aura cloud. His fists were clenched and I swear I saw flames billowing in his eyes and around him. He darted past us at full speed back in the direction of Julia Academy. I turned and gave Murata a questioning look.

"Some things are better left unsaid," Murata whispered, flashing a knowing smile.

What? What's going on?

_Yay! Done with chapter 2! I want to apologize again for any OOCness. Thanks for reading. I'm not quite sure when I'll upload next._


	3. Chapter 3: Two Uniforms,But One School

_I had written this chapter earlier, but so many things happened this last week, including my trip to Florida where I almost died from the heat (literally) and the fact that a close friend of one of my friends had died. I didn't know him very well, but seeing her hurt so much, hurts me. It happened while we were in Florida and we found out in one of the worst ways possible (in my opinion). I had gotten a text from his cousin who works with me. Sorry for loading sadness on anybody, but she's having a really hard time. The funeral was just Saturday._

_On a happier topic, my cat had kittens. XD_

_Anyways, I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little sloppy. Heh heh. And sorry for any OOCness. Kyo Kara Maoh! and most (but not all) characters don't belong to me._

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><p>"I'm home!" I called out, taking off my shoes.<p>

Murata closed the door behind us. He refused to say anything while we walked home. He only continued to smile with that annoying smile. I was about to ask Murata about everything once again, but I was cut off my the sounds of two pairs of feet running down the stairs. The lighter, fleeting steps came from a girl with slightly wavy, shoulder length, reddish brown hair and the heavier steps came from my older brother, Shori. He had a particularly unhappy expression on his face, but it deepened when he spotted Murata. The girl suddenly slammed herself against me and hugged me tightly.

"Ah! Yuuri! It's been so long!" she screamed in excitement.

"Um. Not to be rude or anything, but who are you?" I asked.

She pulled away from me and looked me straight in the eyes with her emerald colored eyes. "That's cold, Yuu loser." (Note: Loser is in english since they're technically supposed to be speaking Japanese.)

Only one person ever called me that. "Mei?" (Note: Pronounced like May. Her full first name Meiline is pronounced like May Line in case you missed that in the notes of the first chapter.)

A smile spread across her face and she pulled me back into the suffocating hug. "I knew you wouldn't forget me."

"What are you doing here friend of my little brother?" Shori asked from somewhere beside me.

"Yuu-chan! Ken-chan! Welcome home!" my mom yelled, running around the corner.

We all sat around the table eating mom's curry. Mei's excitement had worn off quickly and she was currently fighting with Shori about something Bob related. Bob was the man in charge of Mei and a business man who bizarrely always wore sunglasses. I know Mei doesn't have a father anymore and she lived with her uncle for a while before living with her mother for a year. I don't remember the exact details of how she ended up staying with Bob since it was eight years ago when I was only seven. The anger emitting off Mei at the present moment was deadening, but it reminded me of something. She sighed in defeat and turned her gaze towards the window between Murata and me. She was glaring still. The image of a certain blonde boy with those same enraged, emerald eyes appeared in my mind. Come to think of it, Mei looks quite a bit like him. Wolfram.

"Mei, you have brothers, right?" I asked, breaking the silence.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Murata's glasses gleam. Mom dropped the spoon that was in her hand. Shori glared at me with a look that clearly said "Shut up!" Mei's eyes saddened. Did I say something wrong?

"Yeah, but I don't talk to them. Why?" she replied after a long pause.

"I..." I started, but what was I going to tell her? I met someone today who glares exactly like you do. He looks similar to you, too. Is he your brother by chance?

"I have to go. I was suppose to meet up with the headmaster fifteen minutes ago," Mei announced, excusing herself from the table.

"Headmaster?" I questioned after she left the room.

"Meiline's going to be doing her senior year at Julia Academy," Shori answered.

"Eh? Really?" I asked.

"That reminds me, Yuu-chan. How was the school?" mom asked, recovering her dropped spoon.

"Oh. Um...it was interesting," I answered, dropping my eyes to my almost empty plate.

I could imagine the sparkle in her eyes. "You'll go, Yuu-chan?"

"Of course he'll go. It is a great opportunity. When I informed Bob, he told me I should insist that Yuuri goes," Shori commented.

"Bob's here?" I asked.

"Why would he be here? Meiline's here. He wouldn't let her go off by herself. He'll be in Japan until Meiline settles in. He'll go back to Switzerland soon after that," Shori informed.

"Shibuya, you're changing the topic," Murata pointed out.

All three sets of eyes were staring in my direction. Did I want to go to this school? It's elite so I'll probably always be at the bottom of the class. The only people I'll know there is Murata and Mei. At least that's better than not knowing anybody, but Murata's not even going to be in my class and Mei is in a different grade. How many people can speak Japanese or can anybody speak it? Well, the teachers today spoke it pretty fluently and Greta did, too. And it's not like I'll be away from my friends and I won't have to give up baseball, but would I have to play against my old team? What should I do?

"Shibuya?" Murata questioned.

I slammed my hand down blindly on my alarm clock in attempt to hit the snooze button, but instead I only succeeded in knocking it off my bedside table. It was the first day of school. I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the two uniforms hanging on my closet door. One was my simple black military style uniform and the other was Julia Academy's uniform with a short-sleeve, white button-up shirt, a navy blue vest with the school crest embroidered on it on the upper right corner, navy blue tie, and blue pants. The navy blue blazer and long sleeve white button-up shirt were in my closet for when the weather started to get colder. My bedroom door slammed open and Mei stood in the doorway with Murata standing behind her.

"Get up, Yuu loser. Don't be late for your first day," Mei said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked sleepily.

"That school might have high class food, but Miko's food just tastes better," Mei answered while Murata nodded his head behind her.

I looked back over at the two uniforms. Did I make the right choice? I could possibly change my mind later, right? Mei walked over to my closet door, unhooked the Julia Academy uniform, and threw it at me. She smiled weakly at me and left the room, leaving me alone with Murata. He said nothing and hesitated slightly before turning around and following after Mei, closing the door behind him. Mei's been trying to hide it, but she's been acting strange since that day I visited Julia Academy. Murata's been avoiding being alone with me, too. I've been pretending not to notice, but it's getting more and more obvious with every passing day. I slowly rose out of bed and stretched. I glanced at my old uniform once more before putting on my new one.

Murata and Mei were already eating when I walked down the stairs. Mei was about to eat her last bite of egg when her cell phone started ringing. She glanced down at her cell phone, ate the last bite, and excused herself from the table. She been getting a lot of phone calls recently. A couple days ago, a man called our house asking is she was here. I asked her about it later that day, but she avoided answering my question by quickly changing the topic to Bob leaving for Switzerland. Mei reentered the room five minutes later.

"Sorry, Yuuri. I forgot I was going to meet up with someone this morning. Darn. I wanted to walk to school with you. I'll see you later. Bye, Miko," Mei announced before leaving again.

Murata and I were soon out the door and silently heading towards the school. We were still two blocks away from the school when I noticed a blonde walking in front of us wearing the same uniform. The air surrounding him was noble, but solemn. The loneliness radiating off of him was almost unbearable. The blonde turned into the school gates and I caught a glimpse of the side of his face. Wolfram? We turned into the school gates a minute later and was immediately greeted by Greta and her blonde friend named Beatrice.

"Good morning, Ken, Yuuri," Greta said, walking past us and toward the sakura tree where a small group had assembled.

I inched closer to the group to see what was going on. I saw Wolfram in the middle of the crowd smiling and laughing. I turned to where Murata should have been, but only to find myself alone.

"Murata's not a nice friend," Mei's voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see Mei standing there with that green-haired girl and the bald guy. "He's not that bad...sometimes."

"Oh. Yuuri, this is Gisela and this is Dacauscos. Guys, this is Yuuri," Mei said pointing to each of us as she said our names.

"It's nice to meet you," Gisela replied, smiling sweetly.

"Same here," I said.

There was a slight pause. "Well, say something Dacauscos," Gisela commanded while Dacauscos flinched.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Dacauscos said.

Sir?

"Meet us by the swings for lunch. Okay?" Mei suddenly said.

"Yeah. Alright," I replied, smiling.

"You better hurry or you'll be late for class," Gisela advised as they started to walk off.

Huh? I looked around to find that most people were gone. Even the crowd had dispersed in that small amount of time. I hurriedly walked through the front doors and immediately froze. Murata was supposed to show me where my classroom was again. Suddenly, someone ran into me. I heard the swish of papers and the flop of multiple books hitting the floor. I spun around to find Wolfram sitting on the floor. He glared up at me as he started to collect his things. I bent down to help him. He scowled as I handed him the last of his papers and stood up. Wait. I could ask him where to go. It's not like I have much of another option.

"Um..." I started.

"What?" Wolfram asked angrily.

"I...um...I'm not quite sure where I'm going," I replied quietly.

"Humph. You suddenly stop in front of me and make me fall and instead of apologizing like any gentleman would, you ask for directions," Wolfram snapped.

"Ah. I'm sorry. I just..." I trailed off.

Wolfram continued to glare at me. "What room?"

"202," I replied.

Wolfram scowled once again. "Follow me, wimp."

Wimp? I followed after Wolfram quickly, but he would speed up if the threat of me walking beside him showed. He did remind me of Mei. The way he scowls reminds me of how Mei scowls at Shori when he annoys her and the way they smile looks a lot alike, too. His attitude towards me still bugs me, though, despite what Greta said.

"Wolfram?" I questioned.

"What?" he asked sharply.

I paused not wanting to ask anymore, but Wolfram stopped in front of me and looked back at me. "Er...never mind."

"You wimp. If you have something to say, say it," Wolfram said impatiently.

"Don't call me that!" I shouted and paused. "Did I do something to make you hate me? I mean, I don't think I could've since it's my first time meeting you, but it seems like you might have a reason to dislike me."

Wolfram turned full around and his face softened. "You look like someone who took an important person from me," he answered shortly and forlornly.

"Who was this person?" I asked.

He stared at me briefly before turning around and continuing to walk. That was probably a question I shouldn't have asked.

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><p><em>It was harder to type this that I thought. Why? My right eyebrow kept twitching. Ugh! DX<em>

_So, here it is. I don't think it's the most interesting chapter, but you meet Mei and Yuuri finally (sort of) finds out why Wolfram doesn't seem to like him._


	4. Chapter 4: I speak two languages!

_Finally, the next chapter is done. XD I have a few things to point out: _

_1) Shin Makoku exists now. I'm going to make it an island between Japan and Hawaii. Shin Makoku is going to be the only place from the "other world" that exists. Characters like Saralegui from the "other world" are going to be from Shin Makoku since Small Cimaron doesn't exist. (I hope that doesn't sound confusing.) Anyway, I looked at the outline I wrote for this story and found several details that didn't connect as smoothly as I wanted them to. Yet again, the storyline has changed somewhat. _

_2) This is more of a reminder so no one gets confused in later chapters. This is an AU story. No characters are actually demons. Everyone is human. If anyone is referred to as a demon (Anissina), it's just their characteristics._

_3) I also rewatched some episodes of KKM. I found the episode where Delchias von Wincott's son made an appearance. I read somewhere that his name was Rinji, but in the episode, he was called Lindsay. Lindsay and Rinji sound a lot alike. For future reference, if I use him, I will continue to call him Rinji._

_On with the story._

* * *

><p>Wolfram had already turned the corner before I had the chance to move my feet. As I turned the corner, I saw him disappear into a classroom down the hallway. It didn't matter since I knew where I was now. Murata's classroom was right across from where I stood and the chemistry lab (I think) was the door past. The door didn't have the eerie fog seeping out the cracks of the door, but there was a sign above it that read 'Chemistry Lab 201'. My classroom would be the door after it...which was the classroom Wolfram just walked into. I'm in the same class as him? I guess that'll give me a better chance to clear things up between us. He told me he disliked me because I looked like someone who took an important person from him. Is that even a valid reason?<p>

"Oh. You must be Yuuri Shibuya," a voice said from behind me.

The lavender-haired, model-like man, who I vaguely remember Murata calling Mr. von Christ, stood behind me. "Yes. I'm Yuuri Shibuya. It's nice to meet you," I replied, slightly bowing my head.

"Beautiful," I heard the man whisper.

I looked back up at the man's face and he had a weird sparkle in his eyes. "Huh?"

"Your hair is as magnificent as the hour of midnight on a cool summer's night and your eyes are like onyx. A double black. It's beautiful," he praised, clasping his hands together in front of his chest.

"Huh?" I repeated, taking a couple steps away from the man.

"In this country, there are several double blacks, but you're by far the most magnificent," he continued.

"Günter, you're scaring him," Murata sighed, walking out of his classroom.

"Ah. Two magnificent double blacks in my presence," Mr. von Christ said.

"In Günter's country, black hair and eyes are extremely rare," Murata explained.

"Rare?" I questioned.

"Black is the color of nobility," Murata continued.

Black? "What country is that?"

Günter's face changed suddenly into great confusion. "Mr. Shibuya, I thought you would know of Shin Makoku since you are speaking the language."

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm speaking Japanese," I replied, as confused as Mr. von Christ.

"No, Shibuya. You're speaking the Shin Makoku language," Murata corrected.

I stared at Murata, glanced over at Mr. von Christ, and returned to Murata. "Huh?"

... ... ...

"Class, this is Yuuri Shibuya. He'll be joining us," Mr. von Christ said.

I was still dazed by being told I was speaking another language, but the whispers that broke out brought me back to reality. A few others mumbled greetings. How can there be excitement about getting a new student when the school has only been open for a year? I noticed Wolfram sat at the back of the classroom next to the windows. He was staring out the window with a blank expression on his face. His eyes gave off the impression that he was staring far off into the distance. I tore my eyes away from Wolfram and glanced at everyone else in the classroom. A few of the girls toward the front were smiling at me with a certain flirtatious expression. Girls at my old school never looked at me like that. Most of the guys in the classroom had unreadable expressions.

"Take the empty seat at the back," Mr. von Christ said, gesturing towards the vacant seat beside Wolfram.

I started walking to the seat when I became aware that everyone was watching me closely. "He's the one Shinou picked, isn't he?" I heard someone whisper as I took my seat.

Wolfram didn't even glance in my direction. After I settled in my seat, I looked up to see everyone's eyes were still on me, excluding a blonde girl whose eyes were focused upon the blonde sitting next to me, staring out the window. Mr. von Christ cleared his throat which caused everyone to return their gazes to the front of the classroom. I caught a slight movement to my right and turned to see a white blonde with glasses leaning over towards me.

"I see you've decided to come here. Sorry I didn't introduce myself last time. I'm Saralegui. Call me Sara," he whispered.

"Last time?" I questioned.

"You came in here last time with the other Japanese from the class over. I believe his name is Ken Murata. It was a couple weeks ago," Sara replied.

I dug back in my recent memories and saw a smiling Sara before he left this classroom. That was when I saw Anissina dragging that Gwendal guy back to the lab. "Ah. Right."

... ... ...

The bell rang for lunch break. A group of girls asked me to have lunch with them, but I had to decline. They made me promise to eat with them tomorrow. I left the classroom and walked to the end of the hallway before I stopped. How do I get outside?

"Shibuya!" Murata called out.

I turned around and saw Murata standing outside his classroom with Mei, Gisela, and Dacauscos by his side. Well, this will make everything easier.

... ... ...

"I didn't know there were going to be so many people here from Shin Makoku. If I would've known earlier, I would've definitely put up a bigger fight with uncle about attending here," Mei said with a disgruntled face.

"Well, it should've been obvious since Sir Delchias von Wincott is a respected man from Shin Makoku and many people admired Lady Susana Julia von Wincott. When it was heard he was opening a school, all the parents were trying to find a way to get their children in," Dacauscos informed.

Gisela glared at Dacauscos and patted Mei lightly on the shoulder, giving her a smile. "Don't worry. Most people don't recognize you. After all, it's been eight years," Gisela pointed out.

"Shin Makoku?" I questioned, remembering earlier.

The moment those two words slipped from my lips, everyone's eyes were directed toward me. Everyone, except Murata, gave me a questioning look. Murata, on the other hand, closed his eyes and sighed.

"The country where I was born. The country where you and your family visited frequently for four years ten years ago. The language you are speaking is the Shin Makoku language. Or maybe you possibly forgot? It was a long time ago. Well, I don't mind. I'm never going back there. The only things that could hold me there aren't there anymore," Mei replied after a short silence.

"So, I'm really not speaking Japanese," I mumbled to myself, but Mei heard it.

"Of course you're not, Yuu loser. You've hardly ever spoken Japanese in front of me." Mei paused. "Did you really forget?"

I was at a complete loss for words. How could I be speaking another language and not even knowing it? I looked at Murata, expecting him to tell me everyone was just playing a joke on me. "Murata?"

He sighed again. "You've been speaking both languages since before I met you. I'm guessing, but you've probably always adjusted to the Shin Makoku language whenever you heard someone speak it. Isn't your grandma Shibuya a foreigner? She's from Shin Makoku, right? If that's the case, you've most likely known both languages since you were a toddler."

I turned to Mei. "So, I used to visit you in Shin Makoku?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Shori never liked your visits. You always ignored him and wanted to play with me so he was always sticking to your parents like glue. I particularly remembered the last visit two years ago before I started living with Bob. I was temporarily staying at my mom's at the time while my dad was away for work. You upset my little brother when you..." she trailed off.

"When I what?" I asked, eager to hear more.

"Ah. Nothing. Forget it. It was a long time ago." She paused. "I have to use the restroom," she said, getting up and leaving with Gisela following after her.

Dacauscos panicked and stood up as if to follow them, but hesitated. He stood perfectly still as if petrified until Mei and Gisela disappeared from view. He collapsed to the ground and laid back completely relaxed.

"If Gisela makes you that tense, why do you hang out with her?" I asked.

Dacauscos immediately became flustered and he sat straight up. "I...she...I...it's not by choice...kind of," he mumbled, blushing.

Murata's glasses gleamed and he opened his mouth to say something, but immediately closed it. He was looking over my shoulders at something. Both Dacauscos and I turned to see where he was looking. An annoyed Wolfram was walking briskly in our direction with the blonde girl from my class following closely at his heels. She caught his arm, but he quickly shook her off. By the time he reached us, he looked fuming mad. Dacauscos's tension returned and he cowered away.

"Wolfram," the blonde girl murmured.

"Go away, Elizabeth. I'm busy," Wolfram snapped, not taking his eyes off me.

The blonde girl frowned and started to retreat. "I'll go back to the classroom," she said softly.

Wolfram ignored her and pointed at me. "You! I need to talk to you! Now!"

* * *

><p><em>Sorry this chapter isn't very eventful. :( (At least, I don't think it is.)<em>

_I'll explain the language thing a little bit. This is one of the things I had to change from my outline. I originally had it so everyone who went to Julia Academy knew Japanese, but when I made it so Shin Makoku exists, I decided to make it so Yuuri knew the Shin Makoku language like he did in the original story. Problem was, how exactly does Yuuri know this language? So I thought about it. Then I remembered Yuuri's dad (I forget his name at the moment) is from the demon tribe. I thought "Ah-ha!" I'm going to give Yuuri a strict grandmother who's originally from Shin Makoku who taught him the language. XD _

_I don't know when I'll upload the next chapter. With classes starting, I'm getting busier than ever. DX Hmm...Maybe I'll write some tomorrow after tennis._


	5. Chapter 5: The Picture in the Album

_I broke my foot. :( Stupid mountain with the big stupid rock and stupid Jay for suggesting mountain climbing. Then, Jay has the nerve to hide my crutches whenever I'm not paying attention. Sigh. Anyway..._

_I want to point out a mistake I made in the previous chapter. I was just too lazy to go in and change it. When Mei talks about Yuuri's last visit to Shin Makoku. She said two years ago. I meant to write it was two years before living with Bob. It was actually ten years ago. Yuuri was six and she was eight. Mei started living with Bob when she was ten._

* * *

><p>Before I had the chance to reply, I was dragged away from Murata and Dacauscos. What did I do now? Did he realize that not liking me because I look like someone he knew is ridiculous so he decided he'd find something else to hate about me? What could it possibly be? He hasn't even glanced at once since this morning. I was dragged to the sakura tree in front of the school where a small group of people were gathered. They ran away when they saw us approaching. Wolfram pushed me behind the tree and away from anyone's view. Without saying a word to me, he lifted my right hand, looked at it, dropped it, lifted my left hand, looked at it, and dropped it, too. Frustration overpowered the anger that was previously on his face. As quick as the frustrated look came, it disappeared. He tugged on my tie. I had no idea what he was doing and it scared me, but I somehow knew that if I tried to stop him, he'd throw a tantrum. He quickly unbuttoned my top two buttons on my shirt and pulled at the chain around my neck. He stared intently at the ring on the chain. I used to wear it on my hand, but it outgrew my thumb about three years ago.<p>

"I knew it," Wolfram whispered.

"What?" I asked.

"It is you. I was thinking about everything and it suddenly came to me, but I couldn't be sure. That was, until I saw you with her. I knew it. Only you could have that ring," Wolfram said with an unreadable expression.

I had no idea how to reply. What was he talking about? "Um..."

"Don't tell me you forgot, you wimp," Wolfram snapped.

I said nothing.

"Unbelievable! You...you...argh! I can't believe you!" Wolfram yelled.

I opened my mouth to apologize for forgetting whatever I forgot, but Wolfram stormed away. I watched him go into the school before I noticed Murata was standing next to me. We looked at each other and then back at the school.

"I never noticed that before," Murata said, pointing at the ring.

"This? I've had it for a long time," I replied, examining the ring.

"Where'd you get it?" Murata asked, a gleam on his glasses.

I opened my mouth to reply, but found I had none. I felt like I knew, but I couldn't quite acquire the information. Where did I get it? And why did I wear it every day? "I can't remember," I muttered, answering both Murata and myself.

"We should get going, Shibuya. Class is going to start soon," Murata said.

As soon as I go home, I need to ask mom. What is going on? First, I speak two languages, then, Mei left me wondering about the past and now, Wolfram is obsessing about my ring which I can't remember anything about. Nothing was bothering me before now. Maybe I shouldn't have changed schools. Is it too late to switch back?

... ... ...

"I'm home!" I yelled, closing the door behind me.

No answer came. I walked into the kitchen, expecting mom to be there, but it was empty. There was a note on the counter. It read:

Yuu-chan,

I went to the store to pick up

a few things. I should be home

by five. Shori is with Bob.

Bob, huh? Now that I think about it, I don't remember much of him either. I only remembering hearing is the current guardian of Mei. It also bothers me that I didn't recognize her in the slightest when I saw her, but I recognized her from her voice from when we occasionally talked on the phone and from her habit of calling me Yuu loser. Shin Makoku. That name sounded familiar when Mr. von Christ said it, but I just don't remember anything about it. Why do I speak their language? Is my grandma really from Shin Makoku? Did she teach me the language like Murata suggested? If so, when? The last time I saw her was... When was the last time I saw her? And why did Dacauscos call me 'Sir'? Is that a weird habit of his or what? And who is Mei's younger brother? Why did she even bother to mention the past when she wasn't going to finish the story? Should I ask her later? No. She'd probably pretend that nothing happened. My mind was racing with these thoughts and before I knew it, I fainted.

... ... ...

"Yuu-chan! Yuu-chan! If you don't wake up right now, I'll call for an ambulance!" my mom's voice yelled.

My eyes fluttered open. "Wh-what?"

"Oh, thank goodness. Don't ever scare me like that again, Yuu-chan," mom scolded.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

There was a pause. "Why were you sleeping on the floor and in your uniform?" she questioned.

"Um...well..." I laughed nervously.

She sighed, but didn't press me any further. "Go change. Dinner should be ready in thirty minutes.

About thirty minutes later, mom and I were eating together. Shori was still at Bob's and dad called, saying he would be late. It was rare that mom and I ate dinner alone together. Even if dad and Shori weren't home, someone else would be here (Murata).

"What's wrong, Yuu-chan? You've hardly touched your food. Did you have a bad first day? Did someone bully you? Tell me their names. I'm going to march right over there and give them a piece of my mind," she said, standing up which broke me from my thoughts.

"No, mom. I'm just thinking," I replied hurriedly.

"It's mama, Yuu-chan." She paused and sat back down. "What are you thinking about?"

"Strange things that happened today," I sighed.

"Strange?" she questioned, giving me a quizzical look.

I might as well ask her now. "Shin Makoku. Have we ever gone there?"

"Shin Makoku," she repeated. "Of course. We used to go all the time when your grandmother moved back to live with her family after your grandfather died. Why?"

"Is Mei from Shin Makoku?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"Yes, Yuu-chan. I would think you would remember..." she trailed off with a sad look filling her eyes.

"Mom?" I questioned.

"Obviously you wouldn't remember after that accident," mom mumbled.

"Accident?" What accident?

Mom got up from the table and walked over to the shelves. "It happened a long time ago. About ten years. It was your last visit to Shin Makoku and we were taking a boat back to Japan. You were leaning against the edge of the boat and you leaned over too far. You fell into the water. You had hit your head sometime during the fall. It was horrifying." She paused, picked up a photo album, flipped through it, and replaced it on the shelf. "You broke your right arm and lost a lot of your memories. Meiline was devastated when she got the news. We were sure you got most of your memories back, but you couldn't remember Meiline or anyone else from Shin Makoku. Meiline refused to give up so she called all the time. She was upset after that when your father would visit Shin Makoku without you. She still acts as if you haven't forgotten. Ah! Here it is!" she continued, picking up a different album and walking back over to the table.

She flipped to the first page and set it on the table in front of me after I pushed my dishes away. On the first page, there was a picture of a young Mei and me. Mei looked like a boy with a shorter haircut than me. We were both holding baseball bats. A brown-haired teenage boy stood in the background. He had a calming smile and his hand was raised. A baseball mitt enclosed the hand. The name Conrad suddenly came to mind when I stared at him.

"That's Meiline's older brother, Conrart. You used to call him Conrad. He's the one that helped me pick your name," mom informed.

The picture below that made my jaw drop. I saw some of these people around school. A younger Miss von Karbelnikoff smiled brightly up at me beside a younger version of the man with the dark grey hair in a ponytail called Gwendal, who had a grimace on his face. Conrad stood beside him, smiling and beside him stood the lady Julia Academy was named after, Lady Susana Julia von Wincott. A buff looking blonde who could have easily made an American football team stood beside her. Sitting on the ground in front of them was Gisela, Dacauscos, and an orange-haired man I swear I've seen somewhere recently. My homeroom teacher, Mr. von Christ was in the background of the picture with a lost expression.

I flipped the page and if my jaw could drop any more, it did. At the picture on the top of the page, there were three kids: Mei, whose hair was now shoulder length, me, and a familiar looking emerald-eyed, blonde, pretty boy who clung to my arm. He was glaring at Mei with a sheer venomous look. I knew there was a reason that glare felt familiar. It wasn't because Mei had the same look, it was because the boy had always held that expression whenever Mei was around. I could feel the memories pouring back. It was rare that Mei wasn't around me, but in those scarce moments, he smiled angelically. It wasn't quite the same smile I saw this morning. I looked at the names below the picture to verify my guess. It read: 'Wolfram von Bielefeld'.

* * *

><p><em>This chapter is a lot shorter than I expected it to be. :( Oh well. Some things actually happened unlike the last chapter. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. I guess it depends on my motivation.<em>

_Ah! I'm tired of sitting still! Excuse me while I crawl around looking for my crutches. As soon as Jay gets home from work, I'm going to hit him with my crutches. *Starts making an evil plot* Muahahaha! *Evil smile*_


	6. Chapter 6: Unfulfilled Promise

_It's been a month and a short month it has been. This year seems to be a lot more stressful. Oh, well. It's not going to help by complaining. Anyway, if anyone has read my profile, I lost all my files on my laptop, including my info for this story (my outline is gone :( ), about two weeks back and I have been depressed. Enough with these excuses._

_I was debating when to write this chapter. I thought this was a good time to since I can't really remember a lot about my outline, but the major points (it was a really detailed outline X( ) and Yuuri was just looking at a photo album. So I thought "why not?"_

* * *

><p><strong>July 15, Shin Makoku – Ten Years Ago (Mei's POV)<strong>

"Lady Meiline! Lady Meiline! Where are you?" a nearby maid called out.

I was hiding in a broom closet beside a pile of buckets. My father was leaving again. I was used to that, but last night, I heard him on the phone. He was talking to _that_ woman. She somehow convinced him to let me stay there while he was away. I was perfectly fine at home alone with the maids and the guards. Now, I was to stay with _her_ for two weeks. Two weeks! What was my father thinking? The door to the closet suddenly swung open and my father stood in the doorway.

"Thought so," he said, walking over to me and sitting down beside me.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I said anything. "Daddy, why do I have to go?"

"She's your mother," he simply replied.

"I've never considered that tramp my mother," I snapped.

"Such language from my young daughter's mouth!" my father exclaimed.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"I know you don't think highly of your mother, but she wants to see you." He paused. "Do it for me." He paused again, but I didn't react. "Do it for Wolfram." My eyebrow twitched. "You know he's always sheltered up in that place. His brothers are always busy and he's probably lonely."

"Fine. I'll go, but only for Wolf. You better not leave me there longer than two weeks. I'll be counting the days. Do you promise?" I replied, sticking out my pinky finger toward him.

"I promise," he said, entwining his pinky finger with mine.

...

Two days later, father left and the day after that, I said my goodbyes and I left to go to _that woman's_ castle. As the car drew nearer and nearer, the iron gate seemed to grower taller and taller and I felt as if I was walking right into a trap. I stared at the guards wearing matching uniforms, looking like clones, as I passed through the gate. There was a young boy I guessed around my age standing amongst the guards. The car soon came to a halt at the front doors of the castle. My (flinch) mother was standing right outside the double doors at the top of the stairs and was weighed down with huge jewels while wearing a dress that showed off way too much skin. Beside her stood my younger brother, Wolfram. His features looked almost completely identical to hers. I wish he didn't look so much like her. The driver opened the door for me and I slowly stepped out of the car. At the first sight of me, Wolfram darted down the stairs with an angelic smile on his face.

"Mei!" he called out as the driver set my suitcase beside me.

A smile tugged on my lips as he crashed into me, knocking me to the ground. "Hey Wolf," I whispered, patting his golden waves.

"Mother said you'd come," he said, getting off of me.

He turned around and looked at mother as she made her way down to where we were. I stood up and patted the dirt off my jean shorts. When I looked back up to where my mother was, I saw her eyes were filled with tears. Well, it has been a year since I last saw her. She suddenly mimicked Wolfram and ran towards me down the rest of the steps and wrapped her arms tightly around me. I felt warm droplets fall onto my shoulders as her fingers combed through my hair. Strange. She usually tends to overreact, but the crying was a bit extreme. Dad, please make these two weeks go by fast.

...

I woke up halfway through falling off the bed on the fourth morning. The sun was shining brightly into my temporary bedroom. I yawned and stared up at the ceiling. This bed isn't comfortable. I missed my bed back at home. I glanced over at my temporary bed and laughed at Wolfram's current sleeping position. He had been sneaking into my room at night every night. A soft knock came at the door and it slowly creaked open to reveal my older brother, Conrart behind it. He entered the room and stared down at me. I hadn't seen him since three years ago when I was five, but he's been here every day since I got here. He got a lot taller in those three years. If I remember right, he should be about fourteen now. Gwendal's also been eating dinner with us every night. He's also changed a lot. He's seventeen.

"Good morning," Conrart said, smiling.

"Good morning," I replied sleepily, sitting up.

"The maid said breakfast should be ready in twenty minutes," he said with an adult-like attitude.

I expected him to immediately turn around and leave, but he didn't budge an inch. Sadness filled his eyes as he looked at me. It's the same look he's been giving me every day. It's a look that also appears on Gwendal's face and mother can't even glance in my direction without shedding a tear. It was odd. I don't like it.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing. It's just nice having you around," Conrart replied, pulling on an obviously fake smile.

I didn't trust it. Something odd was going on and I was going to discover what it was even if it means wearing those horrid pink, frilly things mother tries to force on me. I abruptly stood up and briskly walked over to my wardrobe where mother thought it would be nice to shove it full with those things. I quickly spotted the worst dress that was the frilliest and pinkest I could find. Mother would love it. I was about to pull it out when I noted Conrart still hadn't left and was watching me with keen interest.

"If there isn't something you need, could you please leave the room so I can get dressed?" I asked, glancing at him over my shoulder.

"Oh. Excuse me," he said and quickly left the room.

I can't believe I'm actually going to do this. Wolfram shifted position on the bed and mumbled something. I glanced over at him quickly before pulling out the thing my mother called a dress and stared at it in awe. How could she imagine me wearing something like this that oozed feminism? Was I about to dig my own grave? Well, only one way to find out.

...

Everyone was silent at the breakfast table. Mother was beaming and, for the first time since I've been here, she couldn't take her eyes off me. Gwendal shifted uncomfortably in his chair every time he peeked over at me. He was probably dying. He tries to hide, but it's apparent that he has an obsession with cute things. Conrart was just sitting there, smiling like an idiot while the shock had already worn off Wolfram. I'd never seen him so wide awake when he first woke up in my life.

The air was definitely bizarre. A knock came at the dining room door and a young guard entered. The small boy I saw the first day I was here was tagging along behind him. The young guard whispered something in my mother's ear. If her smile could getting any bigger, it did that second.

"Meiline, dear, your friend Yuuri Shibuya and his family are coming for a visit," she announced.

Yuuri! Yuuri's coming here! My stay just got a lot better. I wanted to jump around and sing. I wanted to put on my beloved jeans and run around outside. Yuuri was coming!

...

They arrived on the sixth morning. Wolfram glared at Yuuri as I hugged him. Shori also glared at me as usual. Shoma, Yuuri's dad, seemed flustered by mother's appearance. Miko, Yuuri's mom, pulled on his ear and started to lecture him. I grabbed Yuuri's hand in the process and pulled him into the castle. Wolfram ran after us and started to whine when we got far enough away. Yuuri made us stop so that Wolfram could catch up.

"This place is big!" Yuuri shouted as the out-of-breath Wolfram caught up.

Yuuri grabbed Wolfram's right hand with his free left hand since my hand was in his right. He dragged us through room after room and stared in awe at every little thing. When we entered the throne room, he looked up at the giant chair in confusion.

"Mother sits in that big chair and makes important decisions," Wolfram informed.

"Mother doesn't do anything. Uncle just whispers to her what to say," I corrected him.

"Liar!" Wolfram yelled at me.

I don't like my mother. I've said that time and time again. No one seems to know why, though, but it's obvious. She's a liar and a tramp. It may seem harsh, but it's the truth. Mother started off being a good ruler, but everything went downhill. Now, she couldn't make a political statement without going through her brother. She alway seems to have her head in the clouds while blindly listening to everything and anything Uncle Stoffel said. She gets around a lot, too. My three brothers and I don't even share a father. She didn't even marry my father. Why can't she just stick to one guy? It's embarrassing.

Yuuri and his family stayed here for a week. They were to leave the day before father was supposed to be back. Wolfram and Yuuri seemed to take a big liking to each other. A hour before the car was to take them away, Wolfram was bawling his eyes out and refused to listen to reason. Yuuri took him away from the crowd by the hand and pulled him to the courtyard. I secretly followed after them to see what they were doing. I got there in time to see Yuuri slip a ring on Wolfram's left thumb. He showed Wolfram an identical one on his own thumb. I heard him promise Wolfram that he would come see him again and they would get married at that time so they could never be separated again. Then, he kissed Wolfram's forehead.

Wolfram and I watched on well after the car was out of view. Wolfram's hand grabbed mine and squeezed. He didn't like Yuuri leaving and the squeezing was probably to keep himself from crying again. Yuuri probably told him not to. He reached up and touched his forehead with his free hand while smiling sadly. I couldn't help, but feel like I was losing my best friend.

...

The rest of the day past by slowly and uneventfully to my knowledge. Soon, it was the last day. Father was supposed to come today. I would be going home to my own bed within a few hours, but the day soon passed and so did the next one and the day after that. Those two weeks turned into three and there was still no word from my father. That was weird. He would usually immediately tell me if there was a reason why he was so late. The sorrow-filled looks returned and the adults gave me that look whenever I asked about him. On the twenty-third morning, mother, Gwendal, and Conrart woke me up. Gwendal wouldn't look at me and his face looked so angry. I turned over to Conrart who only looked at me sadly. I hesitated before finally looking at mother. She was crying heavily.

"Meiline," she whispered softly.

No. No! No! I didn't want to hear it! No! I stared in horror as she opened her mouth.

"Something bad happened to your father. H-he...he's...gone to...a b-b-better...place...now. I-I...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she whispered, hugging me and the tears streamed down my face.

* * *

><p><em>There you have it. A vague glimpse into the past. There's a lot more to the past to come in later chapters as the events occur. I will mention that you will hear more of Wolfram and Yuuri's conversation when Yuuri proposed. XD I wanted to using the slap proposal, but I don't think I'm going to be able to. I don't know. We'll see.<em>

_Yuuri and Wolfram are supposed to be six and Mei's supposed to be eight. I know they don't exactly sound like young kids, but it's hard to try and write from a little kid's point of view._

_By the way, I don't mean to hate on Lady Cecilie, but Mei doesn't like her. I like Cecilie to an extent, but I don't mean to offend any Cecilie lovers by calling her a tramp. It's Mei's view, not mine. _

_I'm not sure if I'm going to do another past chapter or go back to the present time. What do you think? Please let me know. Thanks. :)_

_Also, the past isn't always going to be in Mei's POV. Wolfram tells it sometimes and Yuuri definitely will a couple times. I'm thinking either Conrart or Gwendal will at least once._


	7. Chapter 7: Rings

_Hello. It's been awhile. How is everyone doing? (you don't have to answer that, but if you want to, go ahead.) I finally got nine hours of sleep last night. It's the first night in a long time, where I got the suggested amount. So, if anyone has seen the update on my profile, they'll know I've been helping some of my friends with their videos for their classes. I'll also mention that I'm currently helping my friend, Brittny with a sort of present day Alice in Wonderland. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated. I already mostly know what I'm going to be writing, but there are some things I'm uncertain about since I've never read the story before, it makes my life that much more difficult._

_I do want to say that, in all honesty, I wasn't very enthusiastic about writing this chapter, but there are some things to note for future chapters. Anyway, I won't keep you any longer and I want to get this done before I go to sleep. If something sounds completely wrong or weird, feel free to point it out since I was really tired when I wrote most of this and now, I'm typing it at three in the morning._

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><p>If there was ever a time to feel completely and utterly lost, it was now. I've known from Mei that I've known her for a long time, but I could never remember how I met her. I knew there was something odd about those people at that school. All of them had the same sort of expression when they looked at me that I pretended not to notice. It was strange. When I first met Dacauscos, he called me "Sir" for some reason, but I hadn't heard him refer to anyone else like that today, except Mei who he called "Lady Meiline, and it looked like he was having a hard time saying my name. Though I thought nothing of him calling me that before, seeing him in a couple of these photos with scary-looking, identically dressed men made my thoughts twist. Sir, huh? Who was Dacauscos and what exactly was I to him? Not just him, but everyone else, too. My jaw dropped again when I turned the page. My mother was standing beside an extremely beautiful blonde woman who looked a lot like Wolfram. She was weighed down with expensive-looking jewels and wore a revealing black dress. Beneath the picture, four words were written: "Miko and Queen Cecilie." Queen? What?<p>

"Yuuri, I found some videos," mom said, walking back into the room with a box in her hands.

"Mom, who is this?" I asked, pointing at the picture.

"It's mama, Yuu-chan," she said, setting the box down and walking over to me.

A scowl spread across her face, but she didn't answer me. "Mom? Mom? Mama?"

She glanced over at me and the scowl disappeared. I'd never seen her glare at anyone like that before. "That...is Meiline's mother. Her name is Lady Cecilie von Spitzberg. She's the current queen of Shin Makoku."

"Wh-why do we know the queen of another country?" I asked, shocked by this revelation while my mother picked up an older photo album.

She sighed and flipped to the front page with a picture of a couple sitting underneath a sakura tree. "You know your father isn't full Japanese. His mother, your grandmother, was a foreigner. She's from Shin Makoku. She came from a noble family and was sent to study abroad here in Japan. Apparently, her family did it to keep her from marrying her boyfriend at the time. He wasn't fit to marry into the noble blood, but the plan backfired. She fell in love with your grandfather, who was even less fit to marry into the family. After that, she had plenty of fights with the family. They tried to force her to marry all sorts of men, but one five-year-old got them to quiet down. She was Cecilie. A five-year-old accomplished making the whole noble family listen! She simply asked them why your grandmother wasn't allowed to love the one she loved."

I quickly glanced down at the picture before flipping the page to see a twenty-two year-old version of my grandmother with a five-year-old Cecilie sitting in her lap. "So it's kind of thanks to her that I'm alive."

"That's the only good point about her." The scowl returned to mom's face. "Your grandmother praised her all the time and still does. She always tried to set your father up with her, but he declined. She's a horrid woman. She has four children with four different guys and she's only been married to three of them. She's looking for a new man all the time. And she... Well, I'm not very fond of her."

She didn't say anything more. What had Mei's mom done to make her so upset? She pulled the box of videos closer to her and started to rifle through them and she pulled out one with a slightly faded label. Mom walked over to the television, popped it in, and came back over to sit beside me on the sofa. She turned on the television with the remote and pushed play. The first thing I saw was a young blonde staring at the camera. His emerald green eyes sparkled with curiosity as he reached out toward the camera. A larger hand reached out and lightly pushed it away. The young blonde glared up at the unseen face of the newcomer. He stormed away and the camera moved up to the newcomer. It was the teenage Conrad. He had a small frown on his face, but smiled cheerfully when he noted the camera on him.

"I do wish Wolfie wouldn't show that kind of face," a woman's soft voice said.

The camera moved and situated on Mei's mom. The blonde looked exactly the same as she did in the photos. Some of the jewels around her neck sparkled in the sunlight, but her eyes didn't sparkle like Wolfram's. Instead they were shining and looked as if she were about to burst into tears.

"Let me guess. It was Conrart," a quiet voice said.

"As always. You're quite keen on these things, Julia," Cecilie replied.

"I kind of understand where Wolfram's coming from. Conrart is hardly ever home and it can be quite lonely. It's the same for me when Delchias isn't home," the lady, Julia, said.

The camera shifted to show the teenage girl standing next to Cecilie, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. She looked so peaceful with the world, yet she had a sad expression, too. The camera was taken off the two and shifted to three children running around in the distance. The three were Wolfram, Mei, and me. Wolfram fell to the ground and the younger version of me raced over to him to see if he was okay. Mei was soon beside me as you could start to hear Wolfram's whimpers. A few maids scrambled to where of the three of us huddled with first aid kits in hand.

A searing pain flashed through my head. I remember. Wolfram had scraped his knee. He was trying his best to keep in his tears, but to no avail. I had wiped away the stray tears with my sleeve and he held onto my arm tightly. Mei called him a wimp and me a loser before storming off into the castle. I had wondered if she wanted me to go after her, but Wolfram was gripping my shirt so tightly. After the maid cleaned and bandaged his knee, we went back to his room and I read him a story. I didn't know how old he was back then, but I felt obligated to take care of him as if he were my younger brother. Mei joined us later, but seemed very annoyed and unhappy.

"Mom, I'm going to bed. I'm tired," I said, standing up from the sofa and replacing the photo albums back on the shelves.

She didn't respond at first so I glanced over at her to see tears streaming down her face. She quickly wiped away those tears and mumbled something incoherently to herself. She turned her attention to me and apologized. I told her "good night" and left her there, knowing that those tears would return when I left the room. Mom was never very great at hiding her feelings.

... ... ...

Giggling echoed in the courtyard. It was only Wolfram and me today. He pulled me to some batch of flowers and we both took a deep breath of the flower's scent. I recognized this smell. It seemed to float about Wolfram all the time. I grabbed Wolfram's hand and squeezed it. Today was the last day I was staying here. I had only just met Wolfram, but he seemed very, very important to me. I pulled him aside to some of the bushes where a bench stood. I could feel the presence of someone close by, but it held no importance to me. Whoever it was was probably just making sure we weren't getting into any trouble. Shori certainly came to mind.

I pulled out a set of rings from my pocket. I had saw them previously when I was out shopping with mom. They reminded me of the rings mom and dad wore. They told me once that the rings were a sign that they would be together forever. When I told Wolfram earlier that I was going to be leaving soon, he cried. I wanted the rings I saw before me to show Wolfram that I wasn't going to leave him behind. I noticed that one ring was smaller than the other. Perfect. Wolfram's hands were smaller than mine. The only problem that presented itself was the fact that they were so big. The smallest size they had was still slightly bigger than my thumb, but I thought we'd grow into them. After pleading with my mom, she bought them for me.

Wolfram stared at the rings curiously. I put the larger of the two rings on my left thumb and slipped the smaller ring on Wolfram's left thumb. He had that curious sparkle in his eyes again.

"This is a promise that I will see you again. Next time, we'll get married so that I won't ever have to leave again," I said, smiling.

"Never ever?" Wolfram questioned.

"Never ever, Wolf," I replied and kissed his forehead.

He smiled, but the tears soon returned since I would be leaving in an hour or two. I grabbed his hand and we walked back to where my family and his stood. Mei had an angry expression again. She seemed very angry this whole week I was here. Her eyes glanced down at Wolfram's left hand and her anger seemed to peak as she stormed away like usual.

... ... ...

"Yuuri! Yuuri! Hey, loser! Get up!" Mei's voice was yelling.

My eyes fluttered open. A dream? No. That wasn't a dream. It was a memory. I promised a guy I'd marry him? I pinched the bridge of my nose as Mei ordered me to get ready for school. School. That's definitely not one place I want to be at today. I glanced over at the ring lying on my bedside table before carefully picking it up. Does this mean it's an engagement ring? I sighed and fastened the chain around my neck. I patted the ring as it lay against my chest.

"Shibuya! Hurry up!" Murata's voice called.

"Coming!" I yelled back.

... ... ...

When I got to school, Wolfram was leaning against the gate. He looked flustered. What's gotten into him? As Mei passed him in front of me, their eyes connected, but the connection broke as quickly as it started. That's right. They're siblings. She's a princess and he's a prince. Why does this feel like I'm reading a fairy tale or watching one of mom's favorite soap operas? I was about to pass him when his hand grabbed my arm. I turned toward him and Murata walked on.

"Sorry about before," he said softly.

"No. I should be apologizing for losing my memories," I replied.

"I didn't believe Meiline when she told me, but when you looked at me as if I was a stranger, it..." he trailed off as a single tear escaped his eye. "I had to make sure somehow that you didn't complete forget."

I unconsciously wiped away the tear and he jerked back from shock. What did I just do? I returned my hand to my side and looked anywhere except his face. I could feel my face was turning red. I dared a glance at his face to see his face turned crimson.

"You always used to do that," he mumbled.

"Yeah. I remember," I said.

His eyes connected with mine and his face turned redder than before. He opened his mouth and closed it. He opened it once again, but words failed to escape. Why did I have to create this awkward situation? Small sounds started to escape his lips. Then...

"You wimp!" he yelled and ran away, still blushing.

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><p><em>Ahh! It's done. So, what did you think? I thought it was about time to put a little Yuuram in there. <em>

_..._

_..._

_..._

_I know there was something I was going to add, but I can't remember. Grr! Oh, well. I'll just add whatever it is to the beginning of the next chapter. That is, if I can remember._


	8. Chapter 8: Stare

_Minna! I'm back! Sorry for the scare that Lyssa informed you about. I'm doing fine. I want to thank all of you for your caring words. I can't remember anything about the accident, but I had a concussion, broke three ribs, broke my left wrist (if I misspell something and don't catch it when I reread it, it's because I'm typing with one hand. :( ),severely bruised my right hip, and got stitches on my forehead. Nothing major, though. I'm still not quite sure why I it took me five days to wake up. Anyway, enough about me. On with the story..._

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><p><strong>Wolfram's POV<strong>

Wimp! Wimp! Wimp! Wimp! WIMP! Out of all the things for that wimp to remember, he remembers something like that! Why that? I-I...uh... Why am I so...embarrassed? I entered the nearest bathroom and splashed water on my face. When I glanced up at the mirror, my cherry-colored face gazed back at me. I scowled at myself. The bell for first period rang. Che!

I apologized to Günter for showing up late and took my seat beside Yuuri. I could feel his eyes on me, but I pretended not to notice or care. I tried to concentrate on whatever Günter was talking about, but I couldn't get my mind off of Yuuri. Namely, it was because the wimp wouldn't quit staring at me. How did he remember? He did lose his memories, right? Or did that wimp lie because he met some hussie? I can't believe this! He had the nerve to cheat on me!

"Wolfram?" Elizabeth's voice said warily.

What?" I shouted.

It was lunchtime and I was outside with Elizabeth. I had wasted the whole morning thinking about that cheating wimp and I still couldn't get him off my mind. Ahh!

"What's wrong? Why are you so mad?" Elizabeth asked, eyes brimming with tears.

"It's nothing!" I yelled.

That did it. The tears started pouring down her cheeks. Curious eyes turned toward us and some scowled at me while most girls grimaced at Elizabeth. At times like this, I wished I had male friends. Most guys didn't like me because of all these annoying girls hanging over me. I didn't mind Elizabeth as much since we were friends when we were younger, but sometimes I just didn't want to be around her. Especially since she flirts with me all the time now and treats me like I'm one of her possessions.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice," I grumbled.

As if that was a switch, her tears abruptly stopped. "I'm sorry, too. I was just overreacting."

"That is quite an understatement," Saralegui said, walking towards us with his own posse of girls.

Elizabeth glared at him. "No one's talking to you."

"Oh, but I do believe you are now," Saralegui replied, smirking.

"Ignore him," I told Elizabeth, trying to keep a fight from breaking out between them.

"But-" Elizabeth started.

"He's not even worth it," I said, receiving glares from the posse surrounding him.

Saralegui stood there a few moments and didn't say anything before leaving silently. Saralegui's family and our families don't get along very well. No matter how many times their families tried to take the crown, they failed miserably. Serves them right! They were cruel, power-hungry people who liked to use people for their own games.

"Hey Yuuri! Murata! Wait up!" I heard my older sister's voice call out.

My head turned and I saw her running towards Yuuri. No! Why didn't I think of it before? Mei wanted Yuuri for herself! No. That can't be right. If she wanted Yuuri, she wouldn't have been with James for all those years. Maybe the wimp really was finally remembering after all these years. Why now?

"Yuuri! You promised to eat with us!" a couple of girls from our class yelled.

Well, I can't have these hussies clinging to him now that he's remembering things. He's my fiancé! I wanted to run over there and drag Yuuri away, but Mei beat me. She glared at them and said something I couldn't hear, but it must've been bad to see the reactions. The girls' eyes were round and almost bulging out of their sockets while Yuuri's mouth gaped open and Murata burst in a fit of laughter.

"Wolfram. Wolfram! Hey! Wolfram!" Elizabeth shouted.

I returned my gaze to the annoying blonde sitting across from me. "What is it?"

"Why are you ignoring me?" she asked.

"I wasn't," I replied.

"Really? Then, tell me. What did I just say?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Uh..."

That stupid wimp!

**... ... ...**

**Yuuri's POV**

I sneezed.

"Are you sick?" Mei asked me.

"I don't think so," I responded.

"Someone must be talking about you. I wouldn't be surprised with what Meiline said to those girls" Murata pointed out.

"Hey! The last thing I wanted to hear during lunch was the squealing of Yuuri's fangirls," Mei defended.

While Murata and Mei decided to have a long discussion about my alleged stalkers, my thoughts trailed back to the blonde. He was ignoring me now. I guess that's better than him hating me, but for some reason, it bothers me more to be ignored. He wouldn't look at me at all after the incident this morning and he was dragged out of the classroom by that blonde girl from the other day before I had the chance to even speak a single word to him. What was I going to say? I don't know. Something like, 'Hey Wolfram! Could you please go back to hating my guts and glaring at me all the time because I don't like you ignoring me?' Why does it bother me? Why?

"Why would I care?" I whispered.

"Huh? Did you say something, Yuuri?" Mei asked.

I shook my head. "No."

She returned to her conversation with Murata, but glanced inquisitively in my direction every once in a while. Gisela and Dacauscos joined us in a few minutes without giving us a clue as to where they had been. When Murata pushed the subject, Gisela gave him a small smile, but wasn't kind like usual, rather menacing. Let's just say, the subject was quickly dropped.

A few minutes later, I felt eyes staring intently at me. I glanced around and expected to find Wolfram standing around somewhere, but instead found a different blonde staring my direction. It was Sara. He smiled when he noticed I was staring back at him and waved me over to where he sat, surrounded by girls. I shrugged to myself and left my group. Sara pushed a girl that was to his right away from him and patted the now vacant spot for me to occupy it. I sat beside him without a thought.

"Von Bielefeld wasn't being very nice to you today, was he?" Sara said.

"Uh. Well, it's my fault. I guess," I replied.

"You guess?" Sara questioned.

I nodded. "I knew Wolfram in the past. I remembered something and mentioned it to him before class this morning."

"You knew von Bielefeld," Sara half said, half asked.

"Yeah... Kind of," I answered.

"Hmm... So what do you think of the things going on in Shin Makoku?" Sara asked.

"Things going on?" I questioned.

"Dear me, you're friends with Miss von Radford* and you knew von Bielefeld, yet you have no clue as to what's going on in Shin Makoku," Sara said in a stunned voice that I'm pretty sure was fake.

"It's not something that comes up in conversation," I replied.

"Oh... So what is it you all talk about?" Sara asked.

I was starting to get very uncomfortable here and wished I would've just stayed over there with my friends. "Nothing in particular. Whatever happened today or in the past couple of days. Sometimes we talk about classes."

Sara stared at me for a moment. "Hmm... "

"Uh... I better get back to my friends. Mei told me she wanted to ask me something," I said, standing up.

I felt Sara tug on my blazer as I started to walk away. He looked at me from above his glasses. His eyes were strange. I smiled at him and tugged myself free from his grip. Murata gave me a questioning look as I returned to the group. Mei glanced over at me, glared at the direction I came from, and turned back to Gisela.

Before we went back to class, Mei pulled me aside. "What did Saralegui want?"

"What?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb, you loser. You heard me. Tell me," Mei ordered.

"N-nothing in particular," I answered quickly.

She glared at me. "Don't go near that sorry excuse for a human ever again!"

"O-okay," I replied, taking a couple steps back.

"He's bad news, Yuuri. I mean it," she said.

I nodded. I've never seen Mei act like this before. I mean, I've only seen her these past couple of days, but I never expected her to have a side like this. She frowned to herself and gave me a weak smile before chasing after Gisela and Dacauscos. I felt eyes on me again. Was it Sara again? I glanced over in the direction I felt the gaze coming from to find a brown-haired man standing there. Who was he? My mind flickered back to the photo albums to the brown-haired teenager. They looked almost the same. Conrad?

"Hey wimp! You'll be late for class if you don't hurry up!" Wolfram called out from somewhere behind me.

So he's talking to me now? At least, that's what I thought. I tried to thank him later, but he pretended I wasn't there. I did catch him glancing past me at Sara. I wonder why. Did Mei mention Sara to him before? He was out there with us. No. Mei never talks to her brothers. This morning proves that. Her brothers... I wonder why Conrad was there. I hadn't seen him around here before.

... ... ...

It was dark and a cold wind was blowing. The air smelled of salt. I was standing on a boat. The rocking motion caused me to sway a little. I reached out for anything I could use to stabilize myself. My hand caught something warm. A blonde was standing beside me with her arm held out for me. She smiled at me and pulled me toward the boats railing. She pointed up at the railing and gave me a pleading look. She wanted me to stand up there? Mom warned me to stay away from the railing bars, but I just didn't want to say no to her. For some reason, she made me think of Wolf. I climbed up onto the first bar and the blonde mimicked me. I climbed up to the second bar and the blonde mimicked me again. I climbed up to the third bar, but I felt something push my back and I lost my balance. The blonde girl was smiling at me. I fell forward...

"Yuuri! Breakfast!" my mom yelled.

After quickly getting dressed, I stumbled down the stairs to find Murata and Mei at the door. "Good morning."

"Yuuri? What's wrong?" Mei asked, concerned.

I raised my hand to my face and felt wetness. Tears stained my face. "Ah. Nothing. Bad dream."

Mei frowned at me as my mind drifted to the strange blonde girl from my dream. The image of her smiling as she pushed me replayed over and over in my mind.

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><p><em>* Meiline's last name is von Radford. I didn't realize I never mentioned it before<em>

_There is a lot of staring going on in this chapter. I felt like every other word I typed was stare, gaze, glare, or look. It was not on purpose I assure you._

_This chapter popped in my head randomly about a week after I posted Chapter 7. I caught myself wondering what Wolfram was thinking so I thought... Why not make part of the chapter in Wolfram's point of view?_

_Also, I apologize if it seems to rush through a lot of information at once. I kind of feel like I almost rushed too much at once with you learning of a mysterious person named James, the dislike between Sara's families and Wolfram's families, Conrad making his first official appearance, and Yuuri's dream. The reason for the family dislike thing was that I still wanted to have the demon vs. human thing that the original story had. Yet again, I changed my own story on myself. :(_

_Please review and expect my next chapter within a month._


	9. Chapter 9: Waiting Under a Sakura Tree

_**Please read this before reading the chapter!**_

_First of all, before I write this big long paragraph, I wanted to warn people that Wolfram will be using a little bit of foul language. I'm actually using the T rating for once. Wow! It took me awhile. Too bad it's just language..._

_Okay. I want to clarify something._

_So apparently some people are not very fond of Mei. I wish to change your minds of her. I assure you that she's not supposed to be a bad person. In the chapter that flashes back to the past, I think I kind of mentioned that she only had her father and the maids/butlers so she was alone. I wish for you to see that she is going to be very protective towards Yuuri since he was her first actual friend. As for her snapping at Yuuri about Sara, she has her reasons which will be discovered as the story progresses. Let's just say, he's kind of the reason why she doesn't talk to her brothers anymore and why she wants to completely sever her ties from Shin Makoku. (I hope I didn't give away too much by writing that.)_

_Anyways, with me being hurt, I have a lot more time to write since my boss was upset when I told him I would come into work. He told me I should heal before I come back. Sometimes I love that man O.o' ...in a friend-like way. I'll just shut up now. Read on readers! *facepalm* I'm lame. Just ignore me. Why are you still reading the notes? Read down there. *insert down arrow*_

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><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

Sara was staring at me and he wasn't too keen on hiding it. Every time my eyes trailed in his direction, he was completely facing me. I even waved at him once, hoping he would just wave back and turn away, but he did nothing. He didn't wave or smile or do anything to acknowledge I waved at him. I turned to my other side to see Wolfram glaring out the window. He was still ignoring me. It's been a week since I've talked to him that morning. I felt hopeless sitting between these two.

What makes everything worse, I haven't seen Mei at lunch at all to complain to her about any of this. I could complain to Murata, but he would just smile or do anything that wouldn't help me in the slightest. Gisela scares me so I can't talk to her and Dacauscos is a good listener, but he's not good with talking. I only see Mei for five minutes in the morning and then I don't see her until the next morning. She doesn't even come over for breakfast or dinner anymore.

It was finally lunch. It was quiet. Was Mei really that talkative? Murata tried his third attempt to start a conversation with Gisela, but he failed. For some reason, I think Murata is scared of her, too. I feel eyes on my back the whole lunch period. I already know who it is. Murata pointed out Sara's staring two days ago. I think he knew Sara's been doing it for a week, but he just chose to say something about it then because he couldn't think of what to talk about.

I looked over to where Wolfram usually sat under that sakura tree with that blonde girl named Elizabeth, but Wolfram isn't there again. He's been missing at lunch for a week just like Mei. I swear that man from before was her older brother, Conrad. Was it a family thing? But that's impossible. She doesn't talk to her family, right? The blonde girl looks up in my direction and smiles at me. She's sitting with a group of girls today. I wonder if she knows where they are or at least, she'll most likely know where Wolfram is.

The bell rang at the end of the day. I didn't move from my desk. Wolfram wasn't in class at all in the afternoon. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned to see Sara standing before. His mouth opened to say something, but a small hand grabbed onto my arm and pulled me away from Sara. It was the young brunette girl I met before. Greta.* She dragged me out to the sakura tree to where the blonde, Elizabeth, was standing. She thanked Greta and softly patted her on the head the way an owner would pet there dog. It irked me.

"See you later, Yuuri. We should play together sometime," Greata said sweetly to me before departing.

"Do you need something?" I asked.

"No. Not me," she replied. "Wolfram asked me to bring you out here. He said he wanted to ask you something. So, here we are."

"So, you're friends with Wolfram," I said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah. For a long time. I think we were seven," she simply replied.

"You're not dating him?" I questioned.

"No. I wish, but he always clutching onto this ring he wears around his neck. I asked about it once. He told me his fiancé gave it to him. He won't even tell me who the lucky girl is," she said with a longing look in her eyes.

I wonder what she would do if she found out there was no girl. Wait! What? He thinks I'm his fiancé! Sure. I guess I proposed to him when we were kids, but we were kids! Kids do stupid things all the time! A hand touched my arm. I looked over to see a worried expression on Elizabeth's face. I then realized I was hyperventilating.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. It happens sometimes," I lied.

"Okay." She paused. "I wonder what's taking Wolfram so long."

... ... ...

**Wolfram's POV**

"Are you sure this is her class?" Conrart asked me.

"Of course, Weller. I asked the office and so did you," I retorted.

"Then, where is she?" Conrart asked.

"Why the hell would I know?" I snapped.

"Language," Conrart said, frowning.

"Damnit! I should've made her stay with me when we were talking before!" I shouted to myself.

"Wolfram. Language," Conrart said, deepening his frown. "She talked to you earlier?"

"Yeah," I said.

Conrart stared at me. "Hmm..."

"What?" I yelled.

"Nothing," Conrart replied.

"Maybe she already left," I said, returning the subject to finding Meiline.

"The dorms?" Conrart questioned.

"I doubt she'd be there. She knows you're here which means that Gwendal, mother, and Shinou would be somewhere nearby. She wouldn't go where she'd be easily found," I pointed out.

"Of course." He paused. "Could she be at the Shibuya's house?"

"Like I said, Weller, she wouldn't be somewhere she'd be easily found," I said, annoyed.

Conrart didn't look convinced. It would be too obvious if she were there, though. Why does she have to be so difficult? (What Wolfram didn't know was that Mei was currently waiting for Yuuri in his bedroom while sneezing plenty of times to make her wonder if she was catching a cold.)

"What time is it, Weller?" I asked.

He looked down at his watch. "Almost three-thirty. Why?"

I thought to the sakura tree where Yuuri would be waiting. "I'll be back. I have to take care of something."

When I got there I found Yuuri standing next to Elizabeth in, what looked like, an awkward silence. He was fidgeting and looking in every direction and she was fiddling with the end of her skirt. I smirked. He's such a wimp. He can't even find a decent way to entertain a lady. I guess that's a good thing for me. That's means we can't possibly cheat on me. Suddenly, he looked at her and started talking. In response, Elizabeth blushed and started laughing. That cheating, good-for-nothing, flirtatious wimp! I tried to keep my calm and I strolled over there as if I wasn't going to strangle him for flirting with a girl, not just any girl, but my friend, in front of my face.

"Oh! Wolfram! What took you so long?" Elizabeth called out as I approached.

"Sorry. I was with Conrart," I replied.

I saw Yuuri's expression from questionable to one filled with curiosity. So he remembers Conrart now, too. The timing seems almost too convenient. Ah! This is frustrating me! Did he really lose his memory or did he just lose contact with everyone except Meiline? No. Meiline wouldn't lie, would she?

"I'll be leaving then, Wolfram," Elizabeth said, breaking me from my thoughts. "See you around, Yuuri."

"Bye," Yuuri replied, smiling like an idiot.

"Cheating wimp," I muttered.

"Huh? Did you say something Wolfram?" Yuuri asked.

"No. Nothing," I lied.

"Uh. Okay. Um... Elizabeth said you wanted to ask me something," Yuuri said.

Right. "Yes." I paused, trying to figure out how to word what I was going to say. "Did you really lose your memories? I mean... How are you remembering... Uh..." I trailed off.

"I'm sorry. I really did lose my memories. I'm sad now that I know I knew all of these people and they are treating me like they are meeting me for the first time. I don't know why I'm suddenly remembering. It might be because I looked through old photo albums a couple weeks ago or it might be because I'm surrounded by all of you. I'm sorry that I lost my memories, but I hope I get them all back soon," Yuuri answered with a sincere face.

I don't know why, but I started crying after he said that. He wanted to remember. He honestly wanted to remember. Yuuri was now wearing a concerned look on his face. It's the same concerned look. Like a replay from last week, Yuuri lifted my face up and wiped away the tears from my eyes. I don't know what inspired me to do it, but I leaned forward and pressed my lips hard against his. He stilled and I pulled back quickly. What did I just do? I felt the heat rushing to my face as I blushed. I looked at Yuuri and he was standing there, speechless and blushing up to his ears. Then, I did the only thing a man can do when he made a fool of himself, I ran away.

... ... ...

**Yuuri's POV**

I watched Wolfram running away. What? I touched my lips. I could still feel the heat of his lips on mine. What? Strangely, I didn't hate it. What? I looked back at the direction Wolfram ran off to. He was nowhere to be seen. I turned, stumbled out of the schoolyard, started to fall, caught myself, and stumbled all the way home.

I shut the door behind me. "Yuu-chan? Is that you? M-" She turned around the corner. "Yuu-chan, are you getting a fever?"

"No. I feel fine. Why?" I asked.

"Your face is bright red," she said, walking towards me and placing her hand on my forehead.

"It's nothing, mom," I replied, pushing her hand away.

"It's mama, Yuu-chan," she sighed. "Anyway, where have you been? Meiline has been up in your room, waiting for you to get home."

"Mei's here?" I questioned.

"Are you sure you're not sick. You're face is red and you're having trouble hearing," mom said, concerned.

"I'm fine, mom," I replied as I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Murata's not with you?" Mei questioned, reaching the bottom.

I shook my head. "No."

"Yuuri, it's been bugging me. What was your bad dream about?" Mei asked.

"Bad dream? Yuu-chan! You should tell mama when you have a bad dream!" mom scolded me.

"Sorry," I apologized.

The two woman stared at me when I didn't answer Mei's question.

"Mom, do you remember if there was a small blonde girl on the boat the night of my accident?" I asked.

"Hmm... Not that I can remember, but there was this cute little blonde boy who was on board with his uncle. Why?" mom replied.

"I think I remembered what happened to me that night. I was with a blonde girl and we were climbing on the railings together. I knew it was a bad idea, but I did it anyway," I said.

Neither mom nor Mei said anything in response. Mom's eyes were shining with tears and Mei looked as if she were contemplating something. The only blonde girl I could think of was Elizabeth, but I never met her before I came here. There was also Wolfram's mom, but that was just far-fetched, being I saw her earlier that day as a grown woman. It couldn't have been Mei. Mei had reddish brown hair, she was at her mom's castle, and she would never do something like that. Blonde girl. Was she even from Shin Makoku? Hmm...

**Murata's POV**

"My nephew sure has a lot of spunk," Shinou said, chuckling at the Wolfram running away from Shibuya.

"Why Shibuya?" I asked, getting right to the point.

"Huh?" He paused. "I have my reasons," she said, smiling deviously.

* * *

><p><em>Ta-dah! Chapter 9 is done.<em>

_*Greta got there so fast because Yuuri was sitting there for a long time. Elizabeth was going to catch him before he left, but he never came down so she sent Greta, who was with her at the time, up to get him._

_I think it's been done before, but I decided to make Shinou Wolfram's uncle/ Cecilie and Stoffel's little brother._

_You're welcome Yuuram fans. You are very welcome. XD_

_By the way, I don't think the next chapter will come out quite as fast as this chapter. I just had this sudden idea and ran with it. Unless I have another one of those in a few days, it most likely will not happen. *Sigh* Plus, I only wrote it so fast because it's not like I can do much at the present time. Jay thinks it's funny to make me laugh. It's NOT funny to make a person with broken ribs laugh. :(_


	10. Chapter 10: Of Redheads and Mei's Family

_My birthday is on Tuesday! Yay! But I have to take exams. :(_

_I decided I want to "answer" the review questions so in the future feel free to ask anything. Not saying I'll give you a direct answer, but I'll most likely reply with something. :)_

_**Anon:**__ As I had stated in the previous chapters, I can't kill off Mei. Why would I create her for this story if I was just going to kill her off? Thanks, though. I knew some people (*cough* Permissionless Lyssa *cough*)weren't very fond __of her, but no one outright said it._

_**Yumi-chan Hamano:**__ I'm sorry to say you won't find out what Shinou has to do with anything for at least a few chapters, but you never know, I could change my mind. He will make a few various appearances like in this chapter, but nothing big._

_**Elle von Werner:**__ Hmm.. Sara... I wonder if it was him. Hmm... Is he really bad or was it a set up? Hmm... I wonder. You'll just have to wait and see. :) Plus, I think you'll like this chapter. Let's just say there's another scene with Wolfram and Yuuri. What of? You'll have to read below to find out. No skipping ahead._

_**Crissa:**__ Okay...I found your review after I typed the answers to the reviews. I'm glad I checked before posting this. Sweet and innocent Wolfram... I don't know about that... *pauses before changing subject* So you didn't like Mei either. :( Hopefully, you'll change your mind. With Murata, I don't know. Maybe he's just not around (exception of lunch and showing up sometimes before school). Can you guess what he's up to? (*cough* Shinou *cough* *whistles a tune*) I want to clarify: I don't know if I typed hate before. If I did, that's a lie. It appears she hates them, but she's just not fond of them at the present time._

_**This is a foul language warning!**_

_On with the story..._

* * *

><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

It was lunch and I really didn't like the current situation I was in. About twenty girls surrounded my desk and refused to let me move. I could barely make out Murata standing in the doorway. I was about to flag him to help me, but I was attacked.

"Where's the Prince?" one girl asked, squeezing her hand tight on my shoulder.

"What did you do to him, Shibuya?" another asked.

" I overheard he was looking for you so where is he?"

"Yeah. What did you do to him?"

"Where is he? Where's the Prince?"

"You didn't make him cry, did you?"

"I bet he was only trying to be your friend and you turned him down."

"How cruel!"

"You're a jerk!"

"Heartless coward!"

"Everyone! Move!" Elizabeth's voice yelled, overpowering everyone.

It was strange. The nails that were digging into my shoulders were gone and a small aisle was parted between the girls to make way for Elizabeth. She had a calm smile on her face, but her actual feelings showed in her eyes. She was sad. She slowly made her way to me and placed her hand gently on my shoulder.

"Yuuri, do forgive them for their rash actions. They are only worried for Wolfram," she whispered.

"I...uh...I don't know where he is," I said.

"Of course you don't, silly. He's at home. He caught a cold last night and is too sick to come into school," she replied.

The girls around me started to disperse, giving me apologetic looks. I only smiled back at them as they left. Was Wolfram really sick like Elizabeth said? I wanted to ask him about the k...k-k-kiss. He kissed me. He stole my first kiss! Ah! No! My first kiss was stolen by a guy! I slammed my head against my desk causing the room to fall silent. I glanced up to see several concerned stares and Murata laughing silently in the doorway. Why is he my friend again? I felt Elizabeth's hand leave my shoulder and she patted me light on the head. It wasn't like the way she patted Greta the other day.

"Do you want to go see him after school?" she asked.

I looked up at her. Was she serious? Go to Wolfram's house? I couldn't do that. My thoughts traveled to the photo albums with the photos of Wolfram with his mother, Mei, and his older brothers and other people I have yet to recognize. Would any of them be there? It wouldn't do any harm.

"If you go, too," I replied.

"Alright, then. After school," she said before walking away.

... ... ...

Meanwhile...

**Meiline's POV**

Where should I hide today? Hmm...

"Meiline?" a voice behind me said.

I spun on my heels to find Conrart's best friend, Yozak, standing behind me. "Hi."

"What are you doing?" the redhead asked.

"Nothing in particular. Just going to use the restroom," I replied.

"You do know that's a boy's restroom, right?" he pointed out.

"Oh. It is. Haha! Silly me," I said nervously.

Great. Can't use this spot.

**Wolfram's POV**

I sneezed again. I feel like my head is about to explode. Being sick is the worst.

... ... ...

**Yuuri's POV**

As Elizabeth and I walked away from the school, I started to feel uneasy about going to see Wolfram. We're going there spur of the moment and I'm not quite sure what to do when I see him. We got to the road Wolfram usually turned down. I could keep walking straight and I'd get to my house. I'm sure Elizabeth wouldn't care if I went or not. She turned the corner ahead of me.

"Hello Elizabeth. Going to see Wolfram?" a man's voice asked.

"Yeah. I was shocked to hear from Lady Cecilie that he was sick. It's hard to believe someone as stubborn as he is can get sick," Elizabeth replied.

The man chuckled. "I know what you mean." A pause. "Are you going by yourself?"

"Eh? No. My classmate is..." she trailed off.

She must've noticed I wasn't beside her. I sighed. Now, I couldn't get away from going. I turned the corner to find Elizabeth staring back at me with Conrad and a redhead in front of her. Conrad's eyes widened and he smiled.

"Where were you, Yuuri?" Elizabeth asked.

"Uh. My shoe was untied," I lied.

"Anyways, this is Yuuri Shibuya," Elizabeth said to the two while pointing at me. "Yuuri, this is..."

"Conrad," I mumbled.

"Actually, it's Conrart, but..." she trailed off.

Conrad and the redhead looked shocked.

"How did you know that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Seems Yuuri is finally remembering. I bet everyone will delighted. Don't you think so, Yozak?" Conrad said.

"Yeah, but just because the kid remembers you doesn't mean he remembers everything," the redhead replied.

The redhead named Yozak did look familiar, but... "You helped Murata with those bullies before."

"Murata? That Japanese kid with the glasses? Yeah. He seems to be chased down by thugs all the time. I'm starting to wonder if he's the type who like to get into trouble," Yozak said.

I laughed nervously. He did tend to get into trouble a lot. I'm not surprised Yozak thinks that way. Yozak soon parted from us after a few whispered words with Conrad. Then, the three of us started walking towards Wolfram's house. The silence between us was awkward. It was like I was walking with two complete strangers to a complete stranger's house, but I knew two of the three from the past. But I lost my memories of them. Part of me tells me that I'm doing something odd while the other part is worried for Wolfram's well-being. I was so concentrated with my thoughts that I didn't notice that Elizabeth had stopped in front of me and I bumped into her.

"Ah! Sorry," I apologized.

"Don't worry about it," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

I looked up at the house in front of me. No. It was too big to be considered a house. It was a mansion. A huge mansion that didn't look like it belonged here. The large iron gates opened and we entered. The walk to the front doors didn't take as long as I expected it to, but I wished it did take long. I looked up at the building one more time at its closer proximity.

Conrad chuckled. "Bigger that you expected?"

"Much," I replied. "I keep forgetting that Wolfram's from a royal family."

"Conrart is too, silly," Elizabeth said.

I looked over at Conrad. "Doesn't seem like it, either."

He smiled at me and pulled open the front door and was immediately hugged by a blonde woman. The blonde woman was wearing a bright red dress with a slit all the way up to her hip and a completely bare back. Elizabeth frowned a little at the action of the woman. Who was she? She slowly let go of Conrad and I saw her face. Wolfram's mom! I guess she's also Conrad's and Mei's mom, too. Her looks had not changed at all since I was little or at least, she looks like she did in the pictures from our photo albums.

"Conrart, I've missed you so much," the woman said, attempting another hug.

"You've seen me this morning, mother," Conrad said, smiling and gracefully slipping away from his mother's grasp.

"Yes, but the hours felt like years without you," she complained.

"We have company, mother," Conrad said, changing the subject.

The blonde woman turned toward Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, you're definitely becoming a beautiful woman like myself."

I could see Elizabeth pull on a forced smile from the corner of my eye. "Thank you, Lady Cecilie."

The blonde woman smiled and turned toward me. "Who is this?" she asked aloud.

"I'm Y-" I started to say.

Suddenly, I was pulled into a suffocating hug. "Yuuri, darling. It's been too, too long! You've gotten so handsome! How is Shoma? You're grandmother keeps nagging me to get in touch with him, but it's like all of you disappeared! But why are you here? I thought you lost your memories. Did Shoma lie to me? Oh, what a cruel man your father is!"

"Mother, you're...um...hurting him," Conrad said, smiling.

"Oh!" the tight grasp was removed and I could breathe properly again.

"Lady Cecilie, is Wolfram in his room?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. Poor Wolfie hasn't been able to get out of bed," Lady Cecilie said with a distressed look appearing on her face.

"Is-" Elizabeth was started to say, but was cut off by a man's voice.

"I don't care what you say you were trying to do! Your actions were unacceptable! Because of you, no one trusts this family anymore!"

The source of the voice stormed into the room with a blonde chasing after him. A black-haired man chased after them both, but all three of them stopped when they saw us. The man who had yelled was the same man I saw Miss von Karbelnikoff dragging off when I toured the school. She called him Gwendal. Gwendal! This is Mei's oldest brother! He does look kind of the same from the pictures, but the grimace fixated on his face was much more noticeable. The moment his eyes landed on me, his eyes narrowed.

"Who's the kid?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"It's Yuuri, Gwendal! You remember little Yuuri, don't you?" Lady Cecilie exclaimed.

He said nothing, but the blonde man rushed forward. "Yuuri Shibuya! It's a shame to say this is my first time meeting you. My sister has spoken strongly of your family. I-" he was cut off my Gwendal firm hand pressing on his shoulder.

"The boy doesn't need to meet someone like you," he grumbled, pushing the blonde man past us and toward the front door.

The man with the black hair started after the two, but was held back by Lady Cecilie. "Raven, feel free to visit me any time."

"I will, my lady," Raven said, gently taking her hands off of him and following after the blonde man.

A finger tapped on my shoulder and I turned to discover it was Conrad. "You two should go up and visit Wolfram."

We past Lady Cecilie and walked up the giant set of steps before us. Why do stairs need to be so grand in big houses? At the top of the stairs, I caught sight of a blonde who looked a lot like Wolfram. He soon caught sight of us. Elizabeth rushed over to him with a smile on her face.

"So you have come to visit. Wolfram wouldn't answer me when I asked," Elizabeth said.

"Well, we all know my nephew isn't very fond of me. Neither is Meiline. I only smiled at her the other day and she glared back so maliciously. I don't know what I ever did to those two to make them hate me so," the Wolfram look alike said.

"I can think of a few," Elizabeth replied.

"Miss Elizabeth, are you accusing me of doing wrong to my niece and nephew?" the Wolfram look alike asked, trying to sound appalled.

"There is a difference between accusing and stating the truth, Shinou," Elizabeth replied.

Shinou? This is Shinou. "Excuse me. Are you Shinou?" I asked, causing them both to glance in my direction.

"Yes, Mr. Yuuri Shibuya. I am Shinou," he replied.

"Why did you..." I started to ask.

"Oh! Would you look at the time! I have so many things to do. Sorry, Mr. Shibuya. Maybe another time," Shinou interrupted.

The Wolfram look alike dashed down the stairs and passed his sister without a muttering a single word to her. Wolfram's uncle is this Shinou guy. That still doesn't help as to why he wanted me to go to Julia Academy.

Elizabeth pulled on my sleeve and dragged me down the hallway opposite where Shinou came from. There were many exquisite tapestries hanging on the wall of knights, battles, castles, gardens, and royal families. Two tapestries caught my eye. One looked like Shinou and the other was a Japanese man who reminded me of Murata for some reason. Elizabeth caught me staring at them.

"That Shinou's great, great grandfather and the first king of Shin Makoku. The painting beside him is who you might call his right hand man. They called him the Great Wise Man. The funny thing is that no one ever knew his name. He's the reason why our country's noble color is black. To anyone, they seemed like the best of friends, but there were rumors they really didn't like each other at all. They were curious men," she informed.

We continued to the door at the very end of the hallway. I watched as Elizabeth knocked lightly on the door, but there was no answer. Instead of turning away, she proceeded to open the door and walk through the doorway. I followed after her into the dark room. She turned on the light switch and the room filled with light. My jaw instantly dropped. This was a bedroom! There was a fireplace with several sofas placed in front of it. One whole wall was taken up with bookshelves filled with volumes in several different languages. There was a desk that looked unused and a set of double doors. One door was propped open and you could see a bathroom. One thing stood out amongst everything else and looked like it didn't belong. In the corner of the room, a small art studio was set up with several canvases laying in disheveled piles. There was even paint splattered on the walls. I smiled when thinking of what the perfect Wolfram would look like with paint splattered clothes. It surprisingly suits him. I then turned my attention to the four poster double bed with velvet, emerald green curtains draped lazily around the bed from the canopy. From the distance I stood from, I could make out the blonde of Wolfram's hair.

"Wolfram," Elizabeth whispered in his ear as I walked toward the bed.

She brushed her fingers through his tangled blonde waves and placed her hand against his forehead. She frowned. His fever must be high. When I got close enough, I saw his flushed face and his breathing at a rapid pace. I felt so helpless seeing him like this. I wanted to do something, but what could I do? He probably has been taking medicine. Water? Food? Has he even eaten at all today?

"Where is the kitchen?" I asked.

"Why?" she replied.

"In case he wakes up and he's hungry," I replied, walking back toward the door.

"Oh! I can do it! You stay here in case he wakes up," she said, rushing past me and closing the door behind her.

I walked back the bed. Why does he need such a huge bed for anyway? I sat on the edge on his bed beside him. He shifted a little and mumbled something. I slowly and carefully placed my hand on Wolfram's forehead. It was very, very warm. Wolfram groaned and his eyelids fluttered open. I hastily removed my hand. His hazy eyes glanced around and finally fell on me.

"Yuuri?" he whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Hello. Um. How are you feeling?" I asked.

Without any warning, the blonde lunged at me and pushed me onto my back. He swung his right leg over me and straddled my hips. Panic mode kicked in when he leaned in toward me. I pushed him, but he grabbed my hands and pushed them above my head. A devious little smile materialized on his face as he moved closer. Just as I was about to call for help, Wolfram's bedroom door swung open and Shinou stepped in. I thought he left. Never mind. I opened my mouth to yell at him for help, but my lips were assaulted with the soft lips of Wolfram. Shinou smiled at me, walked towards one of the bookshelves, removed a book, walked back to the door, waved at me, and left me there.

I felt Wolfram's tongue enter my mouth as I struggled to free my hands. The blonde looked a lot weaker than he was. His golden waves tickled my face. His lips left mine and started kissing my neck. His kisses soon turned into sucking and it tickled. He released my neck with a small pop and he smiled at me again. He let go one of my hands and started pushing up my shirt with his free hand. Before he had the chance to realize his mistake, I pushed him off me and I fell off the bed. I stood up, darted out of the room, and passed Elizabeth in the hallway. She yelled something after me, but I ignored her and raced down the stairs with my eyes only on the door in front of me.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, the door swung open. The redhead named Yozak was standing before me with someone thrown over his shoulder. The skirt she wore belonged to our school and the shoes looked familiar. Mei? Lady Cecilie entered the room with a smile on her face. Yozak started to move forward, but something stopped him. Mei was holding onto the sides of the doorway and refusing to let go. Yozak tugged on her a little, but she refused to let go.

"Let go of me!" Mei yelled.

"I will when you let go," Yozak replied.

"No!" Mei shouted.

"Don't you want to see your mother?" Yozak asked.

"Why the hell would I want to ever see her?" Mei grumbled.

"She's your mother," Yozak said.

"I don't give a damn who she is!" Mei yelled, kicking her legs.

Yozak looked angry. "At least you have a mother, you brat!"

"I don't want that slutty woman to be my mother! I want my father back!" Mei yelled.

I glanced over at Lady Cecilie. There were tears in her eyes. I knew Mei didn't like her mother, but I couldn't see any reason why she would hate her so much. So maybe she has trouble with keeping a single husband, but she seemed like a nice enough woman. I looked back over to the struggle going on in the doorway to find Yozak had finally got her inside the mansion, but she kept kicking her legs and flailing her arms. Yozak put her down and she started toward the door, but Lady Cecilie threw her arms around Mei before she could escape.

"Let go of me!" Mei shouted.

She started struggling with the iron grip of Lady Cecilie when she happened a glance in my direction and froze. Her face turned bright red and she looked away from me. The tears had finally escaped Lady Cecilie's eyes. Mei gave up as her mother assaulted her with kisses. Her eyes connected with mine and she frowned.

"Yuuri, what happened to you?" Mei asked, causing everyone to look in my direction.

The better question was 'What did I look like?' I glanced down at myself and found several buttons had come undone and my shirt was wrinkly. I opened my mouth to explain, but running feet were approaching. I turned around to see Wolfram at the top of the stairs. His flushed face immediately turned pale. I see he has finally woke up.

"Wolfie!" Lady Cecilie called out, releasing Mei and running up the stairs toward Wolfram.

Before anyone could say anything more, I darted out the door and I could hear Mei chasing after me. She called my name out many times in attempt to make me stop, but I just wanted to get away from there. It was crazy in there and part of me didn't want Wolfam to stop. Why? I'm a guy! He's a guy! _So. He's your fiancé. It's not uncommon in Shin Makoku. You learned that in history class the other day. Plus, he's beautiful. Have you ever had someone that beautiful even look at you longer that two seconds?_ What? Who said that? _I'm you._ No. I wouldn't think something like that. I like girls! _Sure. Go on and think that._ I will.

I lost track of where I was going. There was a park to my left. I turned and entered it. There were kids running around and playing games, but no one was on the swings. I sat down on one of the vacant seats and watched some of the kids. A little girl had fell down and was crying. A boy ran over to her and helped her up. She smiled at him and they raced over to the other children hand in hand.

"I sometimes wish I was that little again," Mei said.

She must've found me and took the empty swing beside me while I was distracted with the children. She smiled at them.

"Why?" I asked.

"Many reasons," she simply replied.

A silence hovered in the air where I kind of hoped she would continue. "They are?"

She stared at me for a little. "Everything was good back then. Dad was still alive. You hadn't lost your memories yet. I hadn't met James either."

"James?" I asked, remembering her mention his name before.

She looked away from me and back to the children. "Have you ever been in love, Yuuri?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask?" I replied.

"James was a guard in training. He was to be assigned to Wolfram once he was done. Something happened and he was murdered." She paused. "He also loved me and I loved him very much."

She looked at me with tears collecting in her eyes. "He was the only one that ever fully understood me. When we were little, not even you could."

The tears freed themselves from her eyes and streamed down her face. "I don't want you to... I don't hate my family, Yuuri! I just don't agree with how things worked in Shin Makoku! Innocent people died all the time with that stupid civil war! James wasn't from our noble families! He was from theirs! He was that damn Saralegui's cousin! And they killed him! They killed him!"

Her voice echoed in the air. I was at a loss for words. Death was something that seemed to follow Mei around like a dark cloud hanging over her head. She told me about her father a couple time. She also told me about the nanny she had, her dog, and the flowers she planted in the garden. All of those things died. She joked around and told me she was cursed, but I wonder if she was serious.

"I don't want you to have anything to do with Shin Makoku, Yuuri. In fact, I'd rather you transfer out of Julia Academy right now. I don't know what Shinou's thinking, but my uncle is devious. I'm warning you Yuuri, don't ever go to that country," Mei mumbled.

What is happening in Shin Makoku?

* * *

><p><em>That was long. A lot longer than I planned it to be. <em>

_Now, I'm off to buy soap to put in Mei's mouth. Her father would be so disappointed in her. *Shakes head*_

_I don't want to be one of those nagging people, but please review. I now know, thanks to the website, how many people read this. I want to thank you all for reading it, but I want to hear feedback. Plus, reviews equal more motivation to write which equals faster release dates._

_Jeez. Now, I sound like a review beggar. :(_

_Oh, well. I don't know yet when you should expect the next chapter. Sadly, it might not be until the new year since I have so many things lined up, but you never know. I'm doing possibly the most stupid thing ever and driving home with my boyfriend (afraid of flying) after exams. Thirteen hours. I'll probably get bored sometime so maybe I'll write it then. Until then..._


	11. Chapter 11: Mother Approves

_I got distracted. :( I had finished writing this chapter and forgot to type it. The good news from __this is that I already have half of the next chapter written. Plus, I'm at my mom's and visiting my old high schools friends. My best friend from high school is pregnant! I haven't seen her in almost two years since I was in her wedding. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that I've become so distracted. Anyway, enough with my personal life._

_**Elle von Werner:**__ Did you read my mind? How did you know it was going to be in Wolfram's POV next? Random fact: Shinou is actually one of my favorite characters. I do have a couple of friends who don't like him so I try to put something in my story to make them smile when they read the scenes with him in it. I see him just as a troublemaker, but my friends have a strong dislike for him. I can't get them to change their minds. Hopefully, these attempts can change that. :)_

_**girishia:**__ Yeah. I know it's rushed, but I have a tendency to really draw out a story and I don't really want to do that or this story will never be finished. Then I'd get bored of it and it would go on hiatus. Therefore, it will be a bit rushed._

_**Yumi-chan Hamano:**__ I'm still not sure when is a good time to reveal Mei's past. I'm giving away a bit of a preview. The first scene in the upcoming chapter is a scene between Mei and Wolfram. I honestly love this scene. It's not just because I wrote it either. I think it's sweet. That's it. I'm saying no more._

_WARNING__: Wolfram's overuses the word "wimp"._

_On with the story..._

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><p><strong>Wolfram's POV<strong>

It's hot! Why is it so hot? Oh...I forgot. I'm sick. I wonder what Yuuri's doing right now? Ugh! Why am I thinking about that wimp? Hmm... How do I face him? Humph! Why should I care? He's my fiancé! I have the right to do whatever I please with him! Whatever I want... If my face could feel any hotter, it did. Why am I think of a wimp like that in such a way? He would never do that! I would have to force... Stop! I shouldn't expect anything... Huh? Where did this sudden coolness come from? Wait. Where'd it go? I looked around for it and found an outline of someone beside me. Who is that?

"Yuuri?" I whispered. Am I dreaming?

"Hello. Um. How are you feeling?" he asked.

I must be dreaming. Wait. Where are you going, Yuuri? Why are you moving away? No! Yuuri! Come back! You won't get away! I pounced on him. I won't let him leave without letting me explain the kiss. I have to explain. I swung my right leg over him and straddled his hips. He looked really surprised. He really is a wimp. A cute wimp. Hmm... I never got the chance to get a good look at his face. He hasn't changed very much from when we were younger. Have his eyes always been so black? They're not cold. No. They're filled with warmth. My eyes traveled to his lips. Yes. Those were warm, too. I don't quite recall what they feel like, though. Were they firm or soft? Dry? Hmm... I leaned closer to him.

He pushed me. How dare he! He's such a...wimp. Oh! Is he embarrassed? Hmm... I could fix that. I took hold of his hands and pushed them above his head. I smiled at the sight of his bright red face and inched closer to him. My bedroom door suddenly clicked open. Damn! Yuuri's eyes darted to the door where my uncle stood. He opened his mouth so I took the opportunity and covered my mouth over his. His lips were soft. That's kind of surprising. I licked his bottom lip and he gasped. More. I want more.

I forced my tongue inside his mouth and he instantly started squirming. It was starting to get difficult to hold his hands back. Why would I dream about Yuuri being such a huge task? Well, he is a wimp. Of course he's going to be difficult, but I've never dreamed of him being so difficult. I left his lips reluctantly and attacked his neck instead. It was salty with sweat, but I didn't mind it. Has anyone ever kissed those lips or this neck? Does this cheating wimp want anyone to? Grrr! He's mine and I'll let everyone know! A love bite should do it. Whoa! What was that? Did he just moan? I released his neck with a triumphant smile as I could clearly see my love mark.

I let go of one of his hands to free my right hand. I dragged my hand down his chest, unbuttoning the top buttons of his school shirt. I ignored the rest of the buttons since unbuttoning each one would be a hassle. It would be easier and faster just to push the shirt over his head. I reached the bottom of his shirt and started to push it up. Suddenly, Yuuri freed his other hand and pushed me off him. I scowled. What kind of dream is this? I watched him run from the room. A sigh escaped my lips. Did this mean something? Was it a bad omen? My dreams of Yuuri never turned out like this. I want to wake up now. Wake up!

"Oh, Wolfram! You're awake. Are you hungry? The cook is making you something," Elizabeth said, entering the room.

"Elizabeth? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I came to visit you since you're sick. Oh! Yuuri! He came, too, but you must know that. I wonder why he was running away from here so fast. Maybe he forgot he had something to do," Elizabeth replied.

"What?" I shouted.

"I came to-" Elizabeth started to repeat.

"I heard you!" I snapped, jumping up from my bed and darting to the door.

That wasn't a dream! Elizabeth is never in my dreams. I pinched my arm hard. Please be a dream. In a few seconds, I reached the top of the stairs. Immediately, everyone turned their faces toward me ,including Yuuri. He really was here and I... I felt the blood drain from my face. I think I'm going to be sick. He's your fiancé! Why are you acting like this? Humph. You're turning into a wimp just like him.

"Wolfie!" mother called out, letting go of Meiline and running towards me.

What? Did I miss something? Why is Meiline here? Yuuri darted out of the front door while I was assaulted by my mother's hug. Meiline ran after him after glancing at me with a curious expression. What just happened? Ugh. I want to go back to bed.

I detached myself from my mother and tried my best to walk back to my room, but it proved a difficult task as I swayed from one side of the hallway to the other. I had consciously assaulted Yuuri. Though, I did think I was dreaming. If I had continued... I blushed. I finally ran into the wall and collapsed to the floor. I leaned against the wall. What if I did continue? What would've happened?

"Wolfram, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked, walking towards me.

I looked up and shook my head at her. " Could you just leave me alone for now?"

Her face scrunched up to an angry expression. "Did that Yuuri Shibuya do something?"

"No. I did," I muttered.

The anger left her face. She nodded and left like I asked. I was left alone for about two minutes before Shinou stopped in front of me. I glared up at him. He had came in the room at that time. He could've stopped me. He sat down beside me and stared at the wall across from where we sat. I looked up to see what he was looking so intently at. The portraits of the Great Wise Man and the first king of Shin Makoku. He stared at those portraits a lot.

"You are very bold," he finally said, chuckling.

"Humph."

A smile spread across his face. "There's nothing embarrassing about being young and in love."

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Can I not talk to my own nephew?" he asked.

"Talking with you is a pain," I replied.

Shinou frowned. "Maybe I should withdrawal my offer to pay for the wedding."

"Wedding?" I questioned.

"Yes. Once Cecilie realized who Yuuri was, she started planning. She thinks you should marry in the courtyard at the castle. I think a beach wedding would be more memorable. What do you think?" Shinou replied.

I buried my face in my hands. "Mother," I grumbled.

"I think she approves," Shinou said.

I want to punch him, but that action was quickly interrupted by me sneezing.

"You should go to bed or you won't be able to see your future husband tomorrow," Shinou said, patting my shoulder.

I glared at him again and waited for him to leave, but he didn't. He even offered to carry me to my bed. Of course I refused. I immediately stood up and stormed to my room. Honestly, he's the most infuriating man I ever met.

... ... ...

**Yuuri's POV**

Hours had passed and Mei and I still sat in the park. She had finally calmed down and silently looked at her feet. The sun was almost gone and the air was starting to chill. The children had left about an hour ago. The sky had turned to a brilliant shade of orange. I noticed some teenagers wearing the uniform from my old school. One of them was on the baseball team with me. Ah! Misaki! Oh! He noticed me. He nudged the teenager beside him and pointed at me. The group turned and started heading towards Mei and me.

"I better go. I got some things to sort out," Mei suddenly said.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, then," I replied.

"Oh. What happened with you earlier. You never answered when I asked," she said.

I said nothing, but heat rushed to my face. She said nothing, but I didn't like the look she gave me. She waved goodbye to me before walking past the group coming towards me. Right. The guys. I wonder how the team is doing.

"Hey Yuuri! It's been a while," Misaki said.

"Yeah. How is everyone?" I asked.

"We're fine. Everyone is a little upset that we lost one of our best players, though," he replied.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah."

"So, who was that girl?" he asked.

"Mei? She's a childhood friend," I replied.

"What were you two talking about?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular. Why?" I responded.

"I didn't know you could speak another language," he said.

"Oh. Yeah. It's complicated," I said.

"So, I heard you're going to that new rich kid school," he said.

"Um... Yeah. That's also complicated," I replied.

There was an awkwardness lingering in the air. I really wished Mei hadn't left me here alone. It was too weird. Misaki was someone I hung out with, but it felt like I was talking to a complete stranger.

"You should hang out with us sometime. Don't be a stranger just because you don't go to school with us anymore," Misaki said.

"Yeah. I planned to," I replied.

"Okay. Well-" he started.

"Yuuri!" Conrad's voice called from behind me.

I turned around. "What is it, Conrad?"

"It can wait," Conrad replied, looking past me.

I turned back to toward Misaki whose mouth was hanging open. "Misaki? Are you okay?"

"Y-Y-Yuuri. Th-that's...how do you know a prince?" Misaki asked, his eyes widening.

"Prince? Oh! Conrad. Uh. It's complicated," I replied.

"Ah. We have to go. See you later, Yuuri," he said and they left.

"Friends?" Conrad asked.

"Misaki was a teammate. I didn't really know him much out of the baseball season," I replied.

Conrad nodded and sat in the vacant swing beside me that Mei previously occupied. "How have you been?"

"Confused, a little panicked, and I'm not sure what to do," I said, earning a concerned look from Conrad.

"Yuuri, if you mind me asking, what happened back there?" Conrad asked.

"I prefer not to talk about it," I replied.

"Did Wolfram do something?" he asked.

I made no reply.

"I apologize about him. My little brother can be a handful," Conrad said, smiling.

I shook my head. "No. Don't worry about it."

"It's getting late. You should be getting home. Knowing your mother, she probably panicking about now," Conrad said.

"Ah!" I yelled.

Conrad chuckled. "Come on. I'll take you home."

"No. You don't have to," I replied.

"How is your mother?" he asked as we walked away from the park.

This is strange. Maybe today was just a dream. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up to find this whole thing a dream. I would've never learned I had lost memories and I'd still be at my old school. Yeah. Just a dream.

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><p><em>There you go. Chapter 11. So questions? Comments? Reviews? Suggestions?<em>

_This might be it for the rest of the year for In the Shade of a Sakura Tree. The next should be out sometime in January. Who knows? It might be up next week. If anyone has read my profile, I have written a Yuuram one-shot, but I'm not sure when I'll upload it. It's already typed, but it's only a rough draft. I'll have to go over it._

_Anyway, it's very, very late and I'm tired. I should really quit waiting until late at night (or should I say really early morning) to type my chapters._

_Happy Holidays everyone!_


	12. Chapter 12: Wolfram's Resolve

_Hello. I'm going straight into the reviews._

_**Elle von Werner: **__The whole thing with Wolfram getting sick and have this "dream" of Yuuri was a random idea. I wanted something to happen between Wolf and Yuuri, but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. Then, I was about to fall asleep when the idea came to me._

_**Yumi-chan Hamano: **__Yes. I wonder how he'll react. XD_

_**nickesha:**__ Thank you for reading. I hope you'll like the next chapters. Yuuram forever! :)_

_**Crissa:**__ Hmm... I wonder what Wolfram dreams of too. Maybe I'll write a little extra of one of Wolfram's dreams. It's an idea..._

_I've gotten distracted lately again. I've been watching anime and neglecting my stories. I've been extremely excited about the new Prince of Tennis season being released. I have to say that as much as I love KKM, Prince of Tennis is my favorite. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it._

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><p><strong>Meiline's POV<strong>

What was I doing back at this house? I looked up at the building before proceeding through the front door. Everything was silent. I closed the door behind me and tiptoed to the stairs. Where was everybody? Maybe I could just leave and they won't ever realize I was here. Yeah.

"That's ridiculous!" I heard Gwendal's shout.

"Now, now Gwendal. Calm down," mother's voice said.

So they are here. I slowly made my way to the living room doorway and peeked inside. Mother was sitting beside Gwendal on the sofa with a distraught look on her face. Judging by the way Gwendal looked, uncle Stoffel was here earlier. I hate that man the most. I pretended not to hear the next words coming from my mother and brother and walked toward the front door, but something stopped me. I turned around and looked at the stairs. Wolf. Is he alright? I sighed and walked up the stairs.

I glanced in both directions. Where was Wolfram's room? He came from the left earlier. There were only four doors in that direction. Which one was it? I walked up to the door nearest me and knocked on it. No reply. I slowly opened it to find it to be an office. Not this one. I walked to the next door and knocked on it, but there wasn't an answer again. This one was a spare bedroom. The third door turned out to be a linen closet. I turned to the last door at the very end of the hallway and walked toward it. When I reached the door, I raised my hand slowly and knocked on the door. I slightly hoped no answer would come, but...

"Enter," Wolfram's voice came from inside.

I slowly opened the door and found Wolfram sitting on his bed and staring out his window. I could tell he was expecting someone, but definitely not me. A maid? I could see the aggravation increasing in his eyes. He finally turned toward me and his eyes widened before turning into a glare.

"What do you want?" a chide voice snarled at me.

"Mother wanted to see me," I responded, ignoring his foul glare.

"And you came when asked?" Wolfram asked, shocked.

"Well...no. At first, Yozak found me," I replied wearily.

A small smile crept upon the blonde's face. "Serves you right."

I rolled my eyes and walked over to his bed. "But I came back. I don't need Yozak to go through the trouble again."

He had silk sheets. My eye twitched. Of course his sheets were silk. Only the best for mother's angel. Though, knowing him, he wouldn't care the type of sheets he slept on. As long as they fulfilled their purpose and were comfortable enough, they were good. He probably did appreciate them, though. He never did refuse anything mother gave him. A small smile displayed on my face. He probably accepted them most likely because he was afraid how she would react if he did refuse. I sat on the farthest end of his bed. He was watching me curiously. Hmm... He's more like a cat than an angel. I laughed to myself.

"What so funny?" he asked, scowling at me.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," I replied.

"So, if you're here to visit mother, why are you in here with me?" he asked.

I thought back to mother and Gwendal on the couch. I didn't want to interrupt them, especially when Gwendal was in a bad mood, but why did I come up here? True. I wouldn't expect it if I were Wolfram, either. I haven't been the nicest sister. It's just... I just don't know what to say to him. It wasn't his fault James died. I know that, but... I was too harsh on him at that time. I want to apologize to him, but I don't know how to bring about the topic. I only get angry when I think about it so there's a chance I might snap at him. I don't want to do that.

"No reason," I decided upon. "Just rest. You have a lot of explaining to do to Yuuri tomorrow."

Wolfram groaned. "What am I going to do?" he mumbled.

I've never seen him like this. Hmm... "He's your fiancé, isn't he?" I simply replied.

His eyes widened. "How? How did you.." he faltered.

"Matching rings," I said, pointing at the ring dangling from a silver chain around Wolfram's neck. "Plus, I saw it happen back then. You two were in the courtyard by mother's flower garden."

"You've been calling mother, mother," Wolfram said, raising an eyebrow.

"As much as I don't like it, she is my mother, isn't she?" I replied, grimacing.

"It's about time you admitted it," Wolfram retorted.

"You and Yuuri think alike," I suddenly said, changing the topic.

Wolfram tugged at the chain. "Huh?"

"Even though Yuuri lost his memories, he still wears his ring and it's on a chain like yours. And didn't you promise yourself back then that you would forget Yuuri? Yet, here you are, still wearing your ring. Strange," I replied.

Wolfram blushed. "I did forget the wimp and I quit wearing the ring. I just happen to see Yuuri wearing his so I thought I should wear mine, too."

"Right," I said suspiciously and standing up.

"It's true!* Are you insisting that I'm a liar?" Wolfram snarled as I made my way back to the door.

When I got to the door, I turned to face him. "I didn't call you a liar. You're putting words in my mouth. I'm only insinuating that actions, in this case facial expressions, speak louder than words."

"I... y-y...uh... It's that cheating wimp!" Wolfram shouted, blushing up to his ears.

"Thought so," I muttered, leaving the room and closing the door behind me.

... ... ...

**Yuuri's POV**

"Yuu-chan, where have you been?" mom asked as I opened the door.

"I...well..." I started, stepping aside to reveal Conrad standing behind me.

"Oh, my! It's been a while! Come in! Come in!" mom shouted gleefully.

It seemed as though I was in luck. Hopefully, she'll be distracted enough that she'll completely forget about me staying out so late. After Conrad had passed her, she gave me a stern look and hurried after Conrad. Wrong.

"What brings you here?" mom asked.

Conrad glanced back at me. "I was just bringing Yuuri home from visiting my sick little brother."

"Sick little brother? Is Wolf-chan sick? Poor thing. Is he alright?" mom asked.

"Uh. Well, he seems livelier since Yuuri's visit," Conrad replied, smiling.

"Oh! That's good!" She smiled back. "Would you like some tea?"

"I would love some," Conrad said as mom escorted him to the kitchen.

"I have homework so I'll be doing that!" I shouted, running up the stairs.

Wolfram seemed livelier, huh? I blushed. What?

... ... ...

**Conrad's POV**

Miko Shibuya placed a cup of tea in front of me. She hasn't changed much since back then.

"Yuuri... does he remember much?" she suddenly asked.

"Well, I don't know. He seemed to remember my name, but nothing else. He looked absolutely horrified of mother. I don't blame him though. Her hugs can be fierce," I replied, taking a sip of tea.

"Yes. How is your mother?" Miko asked.

"Um. Well... Things aren't quite well in our country. We're all afraid for her life so we've been sending her on trips all over the world. She thinks we are finally letting her go on her search for free love. She's fine most days, but sometimes things come up that stress her out. We just hope to find a suitable heir soon," I said.

"Haven't all the nobles agreed upon Wolfram since Shinou declined?" she asked, sitting opposite me.

"Well, yes, but that's only if Shinou can't find someone he thinks is suitable. He just hasn't said anything yet, but he's been sneaking around Julia Academy for awhile now. Everyone is getting anxious," I said, waiting for Miko to realize it.

She stared at me for a while before her eyes widened. "Yuu-chan!"

I nodded. "That's what some of us believe."

"My Yuu-chan as a king!" she exclaimed. "Is that allowed? He's Japanese."

"He might be Japanese, but he is descendent from a noble house. The nobles aren't very happy about it except your mother-in-law. Most of them are wondering what Shinou is thinking, but we aren't sure if it is Yuuri," I replied.

Miko said nothing, but stared at the tea cup before me.

"Miko, if your son is chosen as king, will you let him?" I asked in a serious tone.

"I-" she started.

"Did you call for me?" Yuuri said, entering the room.

"No. No. I was just...uh..." Miko started.

"She was just shocked to hear mother is planning your wedding," I finished, saying the first thing that I thought of.

"My wedding?" Yuuri questioned.

Miko and Yuuri both looked at me curiously. "Mother is planning a wedding between Yuuri and Wolfram," I said quietly.

Yuuri's jaw dropped. "Ehh?"

"Splendid! I should call and help out. Does Wolfram look like he did when he was little? He would look beautiful in a wedding dress," Miko replied, jumping up from her chair and rushing over to the phone.

I looked over at Yuuri to find he wasn't there. Instead, he was sitting on the ground with a lost expression on his face. I was afraid of this. I sighed. Well, at least his reaction isn't as bad as I expect Wolfram's to be when he finds out.

... ... ...

**Wolfram's POV**

The next day came faster than I wanted it to and my fever was gone so I didn't have an excuse to stay home. I slowly walked down the stairs and entered the dining room to find my breakfast waiting for me. Mother and Conrad were already eating. Conrad didn't get home until late last night. I wonder where he went. Where's Gwendal? Did he go back to Shin Makoku already?

"Good morning," Conrad said, smiling.

"Good morning," I grumbled back.

In a few minutes, I would see Yuuri. What was I going to tell him?

"Wolfie. What color do you like better, plum or sapphire?" mother asked.

"Why?" I replied.

"I'm trying to come up with an idea of what colors to have in your wedding. Black is such an overused color. Yuuri will of course be wearing black, but I can't decide. I think sapphire suits you better. We'll go with sapphire," mother replied.

I left the table without saying a word, grabbed my bag, and walked out the front door. How can she be thinking of us having a wedding right now? Before I knew it, I was already at the end of the road. I glanced down where Yuuri usually comes from. Good. He's not there. I turned in the other direction to come face to face with Yuuri, Meiline, and a Japanese teenager whose name escapes me. Meiline glanced at me and glanced over at Yuuri. Don't you dare leave!

"Come on, Ken. I need to talk to you about that one thing that I can only talk to you at school about," Meiline said to the Japanese teenager.

"Yes," the Japanese teenager named Ken replied with a glint on his glasses and a weird smile on his face.

The two left and Yuuri and I were left alone. As soon as I glanced in his direction, he looked away from me. Well, this is just great. I am turning into a wimp just like the wimp. Hmph. If he won't acknowledge anything happened out in the open, why should I? I maneuvered around him and started walking toward school.

"Um..." I heard Yuuri say.

I stopped and turned around. "What?"

"I-is it true about your mom?" he asked.

Huh? "Is what true?" I growled.

"Is she really planning a wedding for us?" he asked, blushing slightly.

I turned back around and sighed. "Yeah. She's always known about the rings and... when you came over yesterday, she..."

"Mom's already got a dress picked out for you," he mumbled.

I felt a chill and turned back around to face him. "Why am I wearing the dress?" I snapped.

Yuuri shrugged and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I grumbled.

"I'm just glad it's not me she's trying to force the dress on. Usually, she'll buy the frilliest, laciest thing she can find and she'll try to force it on me," he replied.

"Frills and lace. Ugh. That's horrible," I said, trying to image Yuuri wearing a dress. Strangely, it wasn't that hard.

"Mom wants you to come over so she can take your measurements," Yuuri said as we started walking to school.

"Even if I don't come over, mother will gladly send them to her," I replied, thinking back at breakfast.

Yuuri smiled. He's acting like nothing happened yesterday. Maybe that's for the best. Though, it hurts a little that he would act like that. Yuuri, what are you thinking?

* * *

><p><em>Don't worry Wolf! Why would I make this Yuuram story if there was no Yuuram in it?<em>

_*It's ironic since Wolfram is lying. If you don't remember, it was the beginning of Chapter 5 where Wolfram started stripping Yuuri. Okay. He only unbuttoned a few buttons._

_Suggestions, criticism, reviews?_

_For those who have read my oneshot, I have started writing a sequel. Actually, I wrote two sequels. One will make it a long story and the other will make it two or three parts. I don't mean to advertise my other story, but if anyone has read it, please make a review for Let Me Just Stare if you'd rather have long version or short version. Thank you!_


	13. Chapter 13: Dance with Me Part I

_Gomen. It's been a while, hasn't it?_

_**Yumi-chan Hamano:**__ For some reason, I can picture Wolfram really well in a wedding dress. I'm thinking about attempting to draw it, but my drawing isn't the best, so it probably wouldn't look that great._

_**Crissie:**__ Thank you for liking Mei. Don't worry about her being unsupportive of Wolf and Yuuri. You'll find out why later, but a couple chapters have to be made before that reason will be released. I was actually reluctant to put bits of the actual storyline in to begin with, but I like what I've done with it. Plus, it'll help me not to mix any of this story with my other story (Let Me Just Stare) that I've also been writing._

_Alright. No more notes. It's almost been 2 months, so I won't keep you any longer._

* * *

><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

Students were scattered everywhere. Excited chatter filled the air and students clogged the hallways where flyers were placed on the wall. I hadn't had the chance to see one of them yet. I stood on my toes and tried to read above heads, but it was impossible. I glanced to see if anyone I knew from my class was closer. There wasn't. The bell rang and the crowd reluctantly dispersed. I walked up to the flyer and read it.

"A dance?" I questioned aloud.

"Is that what the girls were talking about?" Wolfram asked, appearing beside me.

I glanced sideways at him to see him staring at the flyer. Recently, my relationship with Wolfram is good. For a couple of weeks after that incident, it was awkward. He had talked to me more than before, but his words sometimes muddled together and any insult he tried to throw at me failed with him blushing bright red in the end. Some days he wouldn't even look at me. It's obvious he realized what he had done, but he pretends nothing happened. I'm not sure how a guy could k-k-k...do that and pretend nothing happened. About a week ago, he suddenly changed completely. I never thought Wolfram could talk so much. I didn't think he was the type. The awkwardness appears to be gone, but for some reason, I can't forget the feeling of his lips on mine. I wouldn't dare tell him since we are finally starting to act like friends. Why would I even tell him at all?

"Are you going to go?" I asked curiously as we walked to our classroom.

He shrugged. "I'll go if I feel like it."

"I've never been to a dance before," I admitted.

"Never? Did they not have dances at your old school?" Wolfram asked.

I shook my head.* "Are they common in Shin Makoku?"

We entered the classroom and before Wolfram had the chance to answer, a swarm of girls surrounded us. They were all shouting so I couldn't understand anything any of them said. I tired looking over their heads so I could find my seat and try to push towards it, but there was another swarm over there where Sara sat. All the boys in the classroom were sitting in their seats with disgruntled looks on their faces while others looked sad.

"Yuuri, please go to the dance with me?" a brunette asked, shoving her way to me.

I glanced over at Wolfram and he was giving me a look that dared me to accept her request. "Uh. Sorry. I've got other plans that night," I replied, making several girls frown.

I looked over at Wolfram again. The glare was gone and he was currently politely declining everyone while flashing a charming smile. This brings me to speak of another change in Wolfram. This is one change that I'm not very fond of. He keeps insisting that we are actually engaged. He'll only mention it every once in a while in a whisper whenever he starts to do something I don't like. For example, he followed me into the restroom and glared at anyone who came through the door. Three days ago, he asked some of his girl posse to watch after me so I constantly have four girls trailing after me at all times. Where were they today? They were busy swooning over Wolfram and trying to get him to go to the dance with them. He also uses the fiancé thing when he shouts at me when I do something he doesn't like. When I told Wolfram I didn't need his personal guard of girls, he accused me that I was hiding something and that I must be a cheater. Before he could say anything else to me, Murata stepped in. That didn't stop him from calling me a cheater several more times that day.

"Alright everyone! Please sit down," Mr. von Christ said, entering the classroom. "Except you two," he continued, pointing to Wolfram and me.

"Is something wrong, Günter?" Wolfram asked as I noticed the rare, yet distinct frown on Mr. von Christ's face.

"You're wanted in the headmaster's office. You're uncle is waiting," he replied.

Stoffel? Wolfram had told me about him. It was one of the major topics he would talk about. While talking about it, he would wear an expression that was so deadly that he looked as though he could spit acid or breath fire. I'm still not sure what the extent of what Stoffel did was, but it sounded bad. I slowly started to inch away from Wolfram.

"Uncle Waltrona? What is he doing here?" Wolfram asked. Waltrona? Who's that?

"I...don't know," he replied, but glanced over at me with a gloomy expression.

... ... ...

"Who is Waltrona?" I asked as we walked down the hallway.

"Lord Waltrona von Bielefeld. He's the head of the Bielefeld noble family and my father's brother," Wolfram answered with a hint of pride in his voice.

A list of questions rushed to my mind, but I somehow got the feeling Wolfram didn't talk about his father's side of the family much. Who was his father? I had the urge to ask him about it, but it felt like a forbidden subject. Instead, we continued our journey to the headmaster's office. I had finally started getting used to this labyrinth of a school. Maybe it was because I only ever walked through the high school section.

We turned the corner and Mr. von Wincott's office door came into view. However, before we reached it, the door was threw open and Wolfram's oldest brother stormed from the door. He walked towards us with a glare displayed on his face. It must be permanently stuck like that. He passed by us without saying a word to his younger brother. I stopped and turned around to watch Gwendal disappear. Why was he here? Was this a family thing I was imposing on? If it was, why was I asked to the office? Wolfram and I aren't married so we're not family. Wait. Is that what it is? After I spent so much time convincing my mom to let it go, her and Wolfram's mom finally dropped it. Did they trick me and start planning again? Is that why Wolfram keeps insisting he's my fiancé? Maybe I'm just over-thinking. Wolfram's uncle probably just didn't get the memo that the wedding was canceled.

"Yuuri, you wimp! What are you doing?" Wolfram called at me from farther down the hallway.

"I'm coming!" I called back, running to meet him outside the office doors.

Wolfram raised his hand to knock on the door, but it opened and came close to smacking Wolfram on the head. He lost his balance and stumbled backward which resulted in him falling on top of me. I looked at the doorway and saw a blonde man standing there, glaring down at the two of us. He had bright blue eyes, but they seemed cold, very cold and his expression showed that he clearly thought us being on the floor was unacceptable. He looked like a man that held high priorities. His frowned deepened as Wolfram sat up and pushed himself off of me.

"Uncle! How are you?" Wolfram asked, showing no concern for the object he fell on, me.

The blonde man stared at Wolfram, scowled at me, and returned his gaze to Wolfram. "Not very well at the present time, nephew."

I saw Wolfram's head twitch slightly in my direction. "Is there a problem in Shin Makoku?"

"When is there never a problem in Shin Makoku? There are several, but those aren't what is bothering me. No. What is bothering me is that good-for-nothing uncle of yours. The rest of the heads of the noble houses and I are becoming restless. _That_ man has yet to give us even a hint to what he's planning. It's preposterous! I'm starting to believe he's just playing around in this country and wasting our time," Wolfram's uncle replied.

"Come now, Waltrona. You have to learn about patience. You're complaining is making the Bielefeld house look bad. I would not stand for it if you were from my noble house," an elderly woman's voice said in a strict tone from within the office.

The voice was new to my ears, but it seemed familiar at the same time. Where had I heard it before? Wolfram's uncle scowled before turning around and entering the office. Wolfram quickly followed him after glancing back at me. I stood up, brushed the nonexistent dirt (the floors are always so clean) off my pants, and followed after both of them. As I entered the room, I noticed there was an elderly woman with grey hair and kind, yet strict blue eyes sitting in the headmaster's chair. I glanced around to find that Mr. von Wincott wasn't present.

"Yuuri," the elderly woman said in a kinder tone that what she used before.

I turned toward her. "Hello."

"Hello again, dear child. I heard from your father that you are starting to regain your memories. I thought I would visit and see for myself how you were doing. With that expression on your face, you clearly don't remember me yet, do you? I am..."

"Grandmother Shibuya," I finished without thinking. Yes. I remember those eyes. This was my father's mother. The woman my mom wasn't particularly fond of. The woman who wished father would've married Wolfram's mother.

She smiled and glanced over at Wolfram. "It's nice to see you boys together. It's a shame Meiline is feeling under the weather. I would've liked to see her, too. I haven't seen the poor dear in years."

"_That girl_ is a disgrace! She tried to soil the Bielefeld family name!" Waltrona suddenly yelled.

The kindness in my grandmother's eyes vanished in an instant. "You are gravely mistaken! All the girl ever did was fall in love! And that poor boy died in the process in protecting your precious nephew! The poor girl was upset! It may not have been the best choice to take it out on him, but you know very well she would _never_ to do such a thing to her little brother!"

A silence filled the air. My eyes traveled to Wolfram. He was staring at the floor with a sullen expression on his face. I opened my mouth to say something to him, but he picked that exact moment to storm from the room. I thought nothing of the two adults in the room and chased after him.

**Grandmother Shibuya's POV**

"Why did you have to bring her up?" Waltrona asked, glaring at me.

"It's about time those two started acting like siblings again. She said some things out of anger, but it's nothing that should've broken up the good relationship those two had. You knew they weren't just siblings, they were each other's best friend," I answered, my patience growing very thin with him.

"You've only accomplished in making him upset," Waltrona snapped.

"If I'm not mistaken, I was only saying that I wished to see her. You were the one who called her a disgrace," I said, holding in the hate that boiled beneath my skin.

He made no reply. Good. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. My old heart won't be able to handle being around him much more.

"It seems my grandchild cares for your nephew," I said quietly.

"It doesn't mean he gained my consent to marry Wolfram or become king if that is Shinou's wish," he replied, leaving the office.

I sighed. Sometimes that young man just needs to be slapped in the face! I would gladly do it, but I would rather not waste my effort on such a man. He seems to be the only one left to bears a grudge against Meiline. It infuriates me how much he cares over his own name than his family. Meiline isn't even blood related to him. Though, people say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I do agree that Meiline and Cecilie both have made grave mistakes in their lives, but it's only because of this cruel world.

"Aunt Amelia**?" Delchias's voice said, entering his office.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You're speaking your thoughts aloud again," he replied, slightly smiling.

"Oh! Well, what I said never leaves this office," I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Yes, Aunt Amelia," he replied.

**Wolfram's POV**

Why does everyone always have to mention that? They're always trying to make Mei out to be the bad guy. If I hadn't... It's my fault. She's not... She only let her emotions take over. I don't blame her for anything.

"Wolfram!" Yuuri called after me.

Great! Now, the wimp is going to ask all sorts of questions just because Mei was brought up.

"Wolfram! Wait up!" he continued to call.

I stopped. What's the use of walking away from a situation if someone is going to chase after you? The stupid, persistent wimp wasn't going to leave me alone, was he? Ahh! Why is that he has the nerve to ignore me, but the minute my sister's name is mentioned, he acts so damn worried? Ahh! It's so infuriating!

"What happened back there? Yuuri asked.

"It's nothing to worry about! The past is in the past! It's best to keep it that way!" I yelled, turning to walk away.

"Do you really believe that?" he asked.

I stopped. "Some things should be forgotten. It's different from you. You, unlike him, are alive," I whispered.

"Him?" Yuuri questioned.

"He was a guard in training that was supposed to protect me in the future. Things got confusing and half of my guards were taken away from me. He soon became part of my guard without completing his training. Mother made a senseless order that Stoffel suggested and things took a turn for the worst. I can't say any more. Meiline would be a better person to ask if you don't mind her getting angry with you," I replied before walking away.

There was a moment's silence as I retreated down the hallway. I didn't dare turn around to see what kind of expression Yuuri had. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to see his face at that moment.

"Hey Wolfram!" Yuuri called, his voice echoing in the hall.

"What?" I snapped, glaring back at him.

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?" he asked.

"Huh?" I replied, wondering what was wrong with the wimp while feeling the blush on my face.

"Do you want to go to the dance with me?" he repeated.

"W-w-why would I g-go with a w-wimp like you?" I replied.

He shrugged. "I thought it might cheer you up a little."

I turned away from him. "Do whatever you want," I said.

"Huh? Wolfram, what does that mean? Is that a yes?" Yuuri called after me.

"Wimp. He probably doesn't even realize," I muttered, hoping he couldn't see how red my face was from this distance.

* * *

><p><em>* Do Japanese schools have dances?<em>

_** The first name that came to my mind._

_I actually planned to make this a really long chapter since I made everyone wait so long, but with the time restriction I have now with everything going on in my life, I decided to make it normal length or nothing would be out until April. :( I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, but I will say not to expect much in March._


	14. Chapter 14: Dance with Me Part 2

_It's been awhile, hasn't it? Gomen. I want to have a better schedule planned out of getting these chapters out sooner, but life seems to get in the way, doesn't it? Anyway..._

_Nickesha: Haha. To be honest, Yuuri reminds me of...well...me. Well, the me a couple years back. My first crush and I were a bit like Yuuri and Wolfram except he wasn't as pushy about it as Wolfram. It was kind of like taking one step forward, but two steps back (I never ended up dating him) and I definitely understand the frustration Wolf feels (2__nd__ crush had a bit of a sister complex :( ). Thanks for reading!_

_Yumi-chan Hamano: Complicated past and quite sad, too. :( Thanks for reading!_

_On to chapter 14..._

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><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

There are several things I never expected to do in my life. One of which was to invite a boy, who claims to be my fiancé, to a dance. To make matters worse, my mom somehow found out. I suspect Murata. I still have yet to figure out how he found out about it, but he kept mentioning it after it happened. Luckily, no one overheard anything every time he brought it up.

"Yuuri! Hey!" Mei's voice shouted.

"Sorry," I replied, turning my attention to her.

Mei sighed. "Seriously, what is up with you these days? All you seem to do is daydream anymore and I even came over to help you pick out something to wear. So are you going to tell me what's going on or am I going to have to guess?"

"Wolfram," I mumbled.

"Ah. The lovesick puppy known as my little brother, but more commonly known in Shin Makoku as the spoiled prince," Mei replied, smiling.

"Spoiled prince?" I questioned.

Mei nodded. "That guy always gets his way. He must be very frustrated with you right about now."

"Huh?"

"Yuuri, Yuuri, clueless Yuuri. That guy isn't calling you his fiancé for no reason. He really and truly loves you. From the small amount of time I've been around Wolfram, I now that he doesn't tend to take a liking to just anybody. He's very particular. Did you know he's on bad terms with Conrart? Do you know why? It's because Conrart's father isn't from nobility. He was a commoner. Did you ever take note to how he acted toward his followers? They are not his friends, they are like his servants. So why you, right? Even I don't know that, but there's something about you that he likes, Yuuri. Something he saw in you back when he first met you. He never played with just anybody. You're special to him, so give him a chance alright. If not for him, do it for me. For the older sister who totally messed up her life and prefers it not to happen to her little brother. No. Do it for yourself. After all, you are still wearing that ring," Mei said, pointing at the chain around my neck.

Before I could utter a word, Mei threw a black button up shirt at me. "That should work. I'll come back later to pick you up since you asked me to."

"Mei?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Thanks," I asked.

"For what? Picking out a shirt? It's nothing. I used to do it for Bob all the time. I'll see you later," she said, leaving.

**Wolfram's POV**

"So what is the S.O.S.?" Meiline asked, entering my room.

"What do you wear to a school dance?" I asked.

Meiline's eyes were wide as she glanced at the shirts piled all over my floor. "Oh. Wow. First of all, throwing everything in your closet onto your floor will not help you at all. Second, why didn't you just ask Elizabeth to help you?"

"Elizabeth doesn't know I'm going," I replied, picking up a red shirt and putting it back into my closet.

"Really? I thought she was your personal stalker," Meiline said, smiling.

"What shirt should I wear?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Does she still think that you two will get married?" Meiline asked, picking up a light blue shirt.

I put back a white shirt. "Yeah."

"That girl really needs to get the clue that you're gay," Meiline said, handing the light blue shirt to me. "Go with this one. You look good in this color."

"I-I-I...y-y-y..." I blushed and snatched the shirt from her grip.

"You can't deny the truth, little brother," Meiline said, smirking, grabbing a couple of shirts, and walking into my closet.

I couldn't come up with a comeback so I said something that I knew would make her mad. "Mom thinks I look good in this color, too."

"Huh. So that woman does have good taste every once in a while," she replied, calmly.

Nothing. Nothing! I couldn't say anything.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to my dorm to get ready," she said, walking over to my bedroom door. "By the way, don't wear that pin that your uncle gave you. It's way too gaudy for a school dance. Oh, and don't expect the normal ballroom music like the balls back at Shin Makoku."

She left and I stared down at the light blue button up shirt that was still in my hand. Funny. I was thinking about wearing this one. Now, what tie should I wear? Wait. Should I even wear a tie? What did I do with my cell phone? What pants should I wear with this shirt? Why does mother have to buy me all these clothes? Meiline! Come back! Why couldn't you at least help me put back all of these shirts?

"Wolfram, you left your cell phone in my office. Someone keeps calling you," Gwendal grumbled, walking into my room and scowling at the shirts laying everywhere.

"Oh. Sorry if I disturbed your work," I replied, taking the phone from his outstretched hand.

He glanced around the room. "Did you pick something out?"

"Yeah. Meiline helped me out," I replied.

"Good. Good. Well, have...uh...fun," Gwendal said with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Okay."

"I'll...get back to work," Gwendal mumbled and left after hesitating.

I respect Gwendal, but I have to admit he can be a little awkward. I looked at my phone and saw that I received a new text message. I opened it to find it from Yuuri (Wolfram put his number in Yuuri's cell phone without his knowledge). It read: "Go ahead to the school before me. I'll meet up with you there."

"That wimp, " I grumbled, throwing my phone onto my bed.

I guess I really should've have expected more from him.

**Yuuri's POV**

The music blared into the air. It was loud, very loud. I glanced over at Mei. She was skimming the room. She waved at someone, but I couldn't see who it was. I guessed it was Gisela. I glanced around and looked for any sign of Murata. He was nowhere, but I did spot an annoyed Wolfram sitting at a table in the corner, glaring at anyone who came close. I turned to look back at Mei, but she had disappeared from my side. Knowing that I'd be noticed if I stood there much longer, I made my way over to Wolfram. I sat beside him, but he didn't acknowledge it.

"Hey," I said.

He sighed.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"Are you bored?" I asked.

"Of course I'm bored, you wimp! I've been sitting her for the last thirty minutes waiting for you to come and you walk in here with my sister! You asked me to come to this stupid dance with you, yet you show up with her! A proper gentleman would escort his date to the dance and not make him wait!" Wolfram snapped.

I flinched. If the music wasn't booming as loud as it was, every head in the room would have turned toward us. I stood there and let him cool down. The last thing I needed was to provoke him into shouting some more.

"Do you want to step outside?" I asked after five minutes passed.

"Sure," he said quietly, standing up and immediately moving toward the doorway.

I ran to keep up with him. When I got outside, I saw him sitting under the sakura tree. He was leaning against the trunk and watched me as I walked toward him. I saw his lips move. He probably was calling me a wimp again. When I reached him, I sat beside him.

"Did you ask her?" Wolfram asked.

I turned toward him. "Huh?"

"About James. Did you ask her?" he repeated.

"No. I lost track of time. She had mentioned him once before," I replied quietly.

Wolfram turned toward me. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Why?" I asked.

Wolfram turned away from me and looked up at the night sky. "She's trying to forget. She's trying to wipe away her past. It's in her eyes and I don't mean the tears. She won't keep eye contact with me for longer than five seconds, she flinches whenever she's near Gwendal, and her hate towards mother is so strong. Surprisingly, she's been calling mother by mother and not by cruel words recently. Today, she's nice, but tomorrow, she could be completely different. It's like playing a guessing game. Though, she always been like that. Some days she would be so cruel because I looked so much like my mother. None of us siblings have had a perfect life, but hers was different. Gwendal, Conrart, and I lived with mother our whole lives, but Meiline lived with her father. Gwendal's father was only a three hour drive away, Conrart's father is a traveler and visits sometimes, and I never knew my father. She lost him. Then, one day, she found someone who could fill the gap in her heart that her father left, but he was taken away in one of the most brutal ways right before her."

A silence hung in the air. I didn't know how to respond to any of this information. I couldn't help but think that for someone who doesn't like me talking about his sister, he sure talks about her a lot.

Wolfram broke the silence. "Hey Yuuri."

"Yeah?"

"What's it like to have a father?" he whispered.

I wasn't expecting that. "Uh... Well... I don't know how to describe it. Dad's not always around all the time since he works late some days. It's...well...it's hard to describe since I have never not had a father," I replied.

Another silence.

"Hey Yuuri."

"What?" I asked.

"Can I be your fiancé?" he asked, shifting so he was slightly leaning against me.

Isn't it a little late to be asking? "Huh? Um..."

"I'm serious...about us," Wolfram said, reaching his hand up to my chin and pulling my face towards him so he could look me in the eyes.

I didn't reply, creating another silence. Wolfram's face inched closer. His lips were so close to mine and our noses almost touched. Part of me wanted to push him away, but the other part wanted me wanted to close that separation. I felt slightly uncomfortable with Wolfram still staring into my eyes. I back away a little, but Wolfram progressed forward. I closed my eyes and soon felt his warm, soft lips on my own. He wasn't being as pushy as before. I opened my eyes a little to see his eyes closed. I reached my hand up and touched his cheek. He flinched and his eyes shot open. We stared at each other for a moment. Then, pushy Wolfram surfaced. He pushed me to the ground.

"Whoa. Wolfram! Wolfram! Wolf! Stop!" I yelled, pushing him off me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"We're at school!" I replied.

"And?" he questioned, touching my thigh.

I pushed his hand away.

"My house?" he questioned, replacing his hand.

My eyes widened in realization. He wants to do _that_! Can two guys even to do that? "No. No. I...uh...mom's waiting for me to come home." His hand shifted up my leg a little. "Ah! Would you look at the time? It's getting late."

Wolfram frowned and attempted to kiss me again, but I escaped and ran away from the school grounds. What was that? Why? I looked down at my thigh. I could still feel the warmth of his fingertips on it. No. No! He's a guy! A guy!

* * *

><p><em>There you go! So close Wolfram. Should've pushed a little harder.<em>

_This chapter is shorter that I originally planned. :( By the way, this chapter was inspired by my brother. He used to do what Wolfram did. For any school dances that we had, he would lay out every nice shirt he had and would ask my sister, mom, and I which shirt he should wear. Then, he would ask his girlfriend over the phone. I thought I would incorporate some of my life experiences with this story. :)_

_Review please! Thanks everyone for putting up with my slow updates. :)_


	15. Chapter 15: Easydobbing Part 1

_Sorry about the long break between updates. I had started working on my other story and well, let's just say I can't write two separate stories about the same group of people at once._

_**Nickesha**__: Haha. After I read your comment, I reread over my AN and burst out laughing. I can assure you it definitely wasn't inspired in that way. Sadly, he's a homophobe :(, so I think he would kill me. Yeah. I was cheering for Wolf when writing this, but I had to stop and remind myself that Yuuri wouldn't just let him have his way. If only I were a boy and in Yuuri's position. *sigh* Who wouldn't want themselves some Wolf? Apparently, Yuuri (not for long :3)_

_**Elle von Werner**__: Bold Wolf 3. I'm have a little bit of an internal conflict at the present moment about who I love writing about. It's between bold Wolf and the sweet, innocent younger Wolf. _

_Can you believe it? I had finished writing chapter 15 and I had lost my notebook somewhere. I got on my laptop to type it out and I couldn't find the notebook I had been writing in. This chapter 15 you're about to read wasn't originally supposed to be chapter 15, but like chapter 17. I had liked what I wrote for the previous chapter 15, so I didn't dare try rewriting it. Anyway, sorry to the Yuuram seekers. This chapter isn't going to have any, but instead you get a cute little blonde Wolf making several appearances. The little Wolf I imagine in my mind is so cute and I just want to hug him to death. This chapter is kind of set up in a diary form. If you read, you'll understand what I mean._

_**Disclaimer**__: I don't own characters or setting from Kyo Kara Maoh!_

_On with the chapter..._

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><p><strong>August 17, Shin Makoku – Ten Years Ago (Mei's POV)<strong>

Funerals are horrible. Everyone around is crying and expressing their sympathy towards you. It feels like I'm being suffocated. I stared at the ebony coffin and refused to believe my father was lying within it. I wanted him to push open the lid and claim he was just making a cruel joke. He would then apologize over and over until everyone laughed. That's the type of man my father was. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe the man wasn't really my father, but someone who looked like him. I glanced behind me in hopes of seeing him running towards everyone, claiming there had been a mistake, but there was no one. Instead, I felt a hand slightly smaller than mine grab onto my hand. I glanced to my side to find Wolfram crying. He didn't even know my father, yet he was crying. I squeezed his hand before turning my attention back to the ebony coffin. They were lowering it into the ground. Everyone started to scatter, but I continued to stand there with my little brother. Down, down, down the coffin went. I walked over to the edge of the hole and stared down in it. A droplet of water splashed on top of it. Was it raining? I reached up and touched my face. Yes. It was raining in my heart.

"Come on, Mei. Mama's waiting," Wolf said, tugging on my hand.

"You promised. You're not supposed to break your promises. Daddy, why won't you come back? I need you," I whispered.

"Mei," Wolfram said.

I let Wolfram pull me away.

... ... ...

The next day, my uncle moved into our house. Since my father was the head of the von Radford family, someone would need to take over. I refused to let him go anywhere near my father's room, so he moved all his things into the guest room. He didn't even use my father's office, but made a spare room into his office. He promised me that he would let me stay here and that he wouldn't tear me away from this place. I didn't like his presence. It was annoying. A stranger had ventured into my house, but I couldn't force him out. After all, he was taking care of me, but most of the time I refused to do anything he asked like dressing more like a girl or attending a ritzy party. Instead, I locked myself in my room or went on some of the trails with my horse. I thought everything was fine until I found Wolf running towards me a little over a year after father's funeral. Whenever Wolf was around, that meant mother was close by.

"We're visiting, Mei!" Wolf called out, running towards me with his arms open.

I let the seven-year-old hug me tightly. "You and mother?"

"Yeah and big brother Conrart and big brother Gwendal," Wolf said, still holding onto me tightly.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as he finally let go.

"They went inside with that man who looks like your dad," Wolf replied.

They went to talk with uncle. About what? "Hey, Wolf. Do you want to play a game called spy?"

... ... ...

"What are we doing?" Wolf asked.

"Be quiet," I whispered. "We're being spies."

"Isn't this easydobbing?" Wolf asked. "Mama says it's bad."

"It's eavesdropping and no, we are only listening," I replied.

"Oh," Wolf mumbled.

I pushed my ear up against the door and heard mother's voice. "...wrong to be acting like that? I think it had a certain charm."

"Charm? I don't think a young lady should be running around in boy's clothing and acting like a commoner. It's unsightly. I can't say I can agree to how my older brother has raised her. She should be dealt with more strictly. If she were to act like that in the military, she would be dealt with quickly and harshly," my uncle spat.

"She is only a child!" my older brother, Gwendal yelled.

"I would let it slide if she was five, but she is already nine-years-old. It is time she learns about discipline. Even your Wolfram could act like a proper gentleman at five. My brother should not have agreed to raise that truant. She only delayed his work and messed up his life. You know as well as I do that he would be alive today if he wasn't in such a hurry to see her," my uncle continued.

My heart sank. My father's death was my fault. The doorknob turned and the door flew open. I fell into the room at Conrart's feet. He looked down at me and his face saddened. My sight was getting blurry. I closed my eyes and could feel the tears dripping down my cheeks. I could feel arms scooping me up off the floor and carrying me from the room.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! I want her out of this house!" my uncle yelled.

"My fault," I mumbled.

"It wasn't your fault," Conrart assured me.

"If I hadn't made him promise..." I whispered.

"It wasn't your fault," Conrart repeated, but it didn't make the tears stop.

... ... ...

**December 16, Blood Pledge Castle – Nine Years Ago**

Months had passed since my uncle kicked me out of my house. With no other choice, I had to go live with my mother. I didn't want to, so I locked myself in my new room and refused to leave. I had my own bathroom and the maids brought me food. At one point in time, the maids stopped giving me food in attempt to get me to leave, but I still refused. After three days, the maids started bringing me food again. At least once every day, someone would knock on my door. Usually, it was mother or Wolf. I felt bad for ignoring Wolf, but I really didn't want company. Whenever I got bored, a maid would bring me a book or I would stare out my window and watch the guards train the next generation of guards. Two boys in particular caught my attention. One was a silly and clumsy boy named Dacauscos and the other was a quiet and attentive boy named James. Lately, they haven't been training in the courtyard. It must be because of the winter season.

"Meiline," an older man's voice said from outside my door.

It was a familiar voice that belonged to one of my father's friends. "Come in, Bob."

My door creaked open and Bob entered wearing his classic black suit and sunglasses. "How have you been? I'm sorry I haven't been to visit. Work can get in the way."

"I'm fine," I lied, turning my attention to the window.

"A young lady who is fine certainly wouldn't be locking herself up in her room," Bob replied.

"I want to be alone," I said.

"I know it's been hard for you since your father's death, but I can assure you he would be appalled to see you acting like this. What happened to the energetic little girl that had a smile that could make anyone fall in love with her?" Bob said, sitting beside me.

"She killed her father," I whispered.

Bob placed a hand on my shoulder. "Now, you know as well as I do that isn't true."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"He may have been on his way home to you, but he wasn't driving either car. Sometimes people can do stupid things that harm other people," he explained.

"What if..." I started.

"No. No matter how you say it, his death is not your fault," Bob said.

I said nothing and returned my attention to the window. It had started snowing. I got up from my bed and moved closer to the window. I slowly raised my hand and pressed it against the window. It was cold. I removed my hand and noticed two heads of blonde hair running around in the courtyard with their hands raised in the air. One was Wolf, but the other was a little girl I've never seen before. She was probably from a noble family. Good. Wolf had made a new friend. It wouldn't be good to play with someone like me. I reached up and touched the latch on my window. Still, I want to run outside in the snow. Instead, I opened my window and stuck my hand out. I watched as the snowflakes landed on my hand and melted away.

"You look like you want to go outside, so why don't you?" Bob asked.

"I don't like it here," I said, pulling my hand back inside and closing the window.

"Do you want to leave?" he asked.

"Yes. More than anything," I replied, turning towards him.

"I'll talk to your mother and if you still want to leave in a year from now, you can come live with me in Switzerland," he said.

I smiled for the first time in a long time. "Really?"

"I have one condition," he said.

I frowned. "What?"

"You can't keep yourself locked up in this room. If I find out you haven't left your room, you can consider this agreement null and void," he replied.

I stared at him for a minute. "Fine."

"Right. Now, grab your coat and go play outside with Wolfram and Miss Elizabeth," Bob said.

"Now? I have to start now?" I pouted.

"Remember. I will cancel," Bob said.

I glared at him. "You're mean."

**April 22, Blood Pledge Castle – Eight Years Ago**

I was sitting in the courtyard with Wolfram and Elizabeth. These past four months, I've gotten to know a lot of people around the castle. The guards were all friendly and loved to tell me stories of when they were younger. The maids would play with Wolf and me when they weren't busy. The cooks would make us sweets and tell me about things that were happening throughout the castle. Apparently, Gwendal has a girlfriend that likes to chase him around. It wasn't too bad of a life, but then mother would pop up and force a suffocating hug on me before forcing me to wearing a frilly thing she called a dress. I wore a frilly dress for her once, but I refused to do it ever again.

Today was different. Mother wasn't at the castle, so the air was serene. I felt like I could breathe properly without having to glance around for a chance of attack. The guards were practicing their swordsmanship as the younger ones watched on. I giggled when I saw the one named Dacauscos leaning against a tree and sleeping. James would glance back at him every few seconds and throw something at him. I laughed aloud when whatever James was throwing hit Dacauscos on the nose and he screamed. The guards all stopped what they were doing and scowled at Dacauscos. I stood up and walked over to the group.

"Is something wrong?" I asked innocently.

The entire group turned toward me and bowed their heads. "Princess."

"I-I'm very sorry princess. I-I didn't m-mean to scare you," Dacauscos said.

"It's quite alright. I was watching everyone from other there. You are all doing well. I wish someone could teach me. After all, I think a princess should be able to defend herself if ever a situation called for it," I said.

"I'm happy to hear the princess say these kind words, but I assure you that it should never be necessary for you to know this. If it is your wish, I'm sure the queen wouldn't mind you learning. We would all be equally honored if you asked us to teach you. Is there anyone in mind?" an older guard, who I liked to taunt, asked.

"Him," I said, pointing at James.

Everyone's eyes turned toward him and the older guard spoke again. "Princess, young James here is still in training."

I walked over to James and lightly touched his arm. "What better person to train someone than someone who is in training themselves?"

The older guard hesitated and studied James's reaction. "I guess I can see what the princess is saying. Very well. James is a good young man."

"I know. I watch you all from my bedroom window," I said.

I giggled at how uneasy I was making the old man. He was one to never break conduct and it irritated me. The other guards were smiling and James was watching me in awe. I glanced over at him and smiled. He smiled back. Wow. I never saw him smile before. He had always looked so serious.

"I'm honored to hear the princess is watching us," the man said.

I sighed. "Honestly, can you be more relaxed? You're making me feel tense. My name is Meiline, not 'the princess', so can you please call me by it? Everyone else already does."

He glanced around at the others and they all nodded their heads. "Very well, Lady Meiline."

I sighed again. "Well, if you are done for the day, I'll be taking him... and him." I pointed at Dacauscos.

"Me?" Dacauscos questioned.

"Yes," I replied.

**June 30, Blood Pledge Castle – Eight Years Ago**

I learned that James was two years older than me and Dacauscos was the same age. I had also met a girl my age with green hair named Gisela, who had already started her medical training. The four of us with Wolf would spend hours together, but only when they weren't training. Gisela had fixed Dacauscos's attitude a little, but he was still clumsy as ever. I didn't mind it, though. It seemed like it was just who he was. James has been a little more relaxed. When he first started teaching me, he only ever called me 'princess', but I finally got him to call me Mei. I was finally having fun and thinking that I might just decline Bob's offer. I changed my mind all over again when I had overheard the guards talking about the placements of the trainee guards once they became old enough. They had all agreed that James was to be put in Wolfram's guard. I've never hated the guards so much in my life.

**December 16, Blood Pledge Castle – Eight Years Ago**

I was leaving. My decision to leave was final and Bob came back in exactly a year to come get me. Mother wasn't happy at all and neither was anyone else. James didn't even come to see me off. I asked Gisela and Dacauscos to write to me as often as they could and to tell James to, too. I escaped a hug from my mother, but let Wolf hug me as tight as he could. He was lucky and he didn't even know it yet.

"I'll come and visit! I promise!" I yelled from the car window as we drove away.

"Are you going to keep your promise?" Bob asked from the front seat.

"I never make promises I can't keep," I replied.

**December 28, Blood Pledge Castle – Eight Years Ago**

I received my first letters today. There were four of them. One was from Dacauscos, who had really sloppy handwriting and I had to have Bob read it aloud to me. The second was from Gisela and was three pages long. The third was from James and it contained two words 'I'm sorry.' The fourth was from someone I didn't expect a letter to come from, Shori Shibuya. How could I forget about the Shibuya's? I ripped open the letter and my heart sank as I read down the page. Yuuri had lost his memories two years ago. He didn't know me anymore. No. No. No! Why did it take them two years to tell me?! I can't lose anyone else! I ran to find Bob and asked if he knew the Shibuya's phone number. As soon as he said the last digit, I ran to the phone and dialed it. Someone picked up after the third ring.

"Hello?" a woman's voice answered.

"Mrs. Shibuya, this is Meiline von Radford. Is Yuuri there?" I said.

There was a silence. "Meiline, do you know what happened to Yuuri?"

"What?" I asked.

"Two years ago on our boat ride home from Shin Makoku, Yuuri fell overboard and he lost his memories. I thought you were told. That's why we hasn't visited you since. He won't know who you are," she replied.

"Can you please give him the phone?" I asked.

There was another silence. "Okay," she said.

Another silence followed before a different voice answered. "Hello?"

"Yuuri?" I asked.

"Yes. Who is this?" he replied.

"It's Mei," I said.

"Who?" he asked.

"Your friend, Meiline von Radford," I replied.

"Who?" he asked again.

"..."

"Hello?" he said.

"..."

"Hello?" he repeated.

"..."

I heard the click of the phone hang up. Why, Yuuri? Why?

* * *

><p><em>I'm pretty sure all you haters of Mei (I know you're still out there) are upset about this chapter. Sorry, but she comes with the story. I assure you she is really important later. Life and death important. If you're still upset, I'll just hide behind this cute young Wolf here.<em>

_I read and reread this chapter and sigh several times. They don't sound like children at all. I wanted to have Wolf mispronounce several words, but I know some of my foreign friends are using translation sites and it won't translate. I've tried it, so I can't have Wolf saying things like 'big bravder' instead of 'big brother' or 'day wen inside wif dat man who rooks wike your dad.' Instead of 'they went inside with that man who looks like your dad.' *sigh*_

_Please review and expect the next chapter when I can find it._


	16. Chapter 16: Language Barriers

_Guess what? I found it! And I got a new laptop! Cue dancing. ~(^.^~) (~^.^)~_

_**soulxspirit125**__:*hugs* Yay! Someone who isn't annoyed to bits by Mei! *hugs again* Please look forward to the continuation od her past. I don't know when I'll upload the next part yet._

_**Nickesha**__: Yeah. I really was tempted to make Wolfram talk cute, but like I mentioned I was thinking of my non-English speaking readers. I'm thinking about making an In the Shade of a Sakura Tree Extras thing (about things I decided not to put in my story or what Miko and Celi was planning for the wedding, etc.) where I could put that chapter. I don't know. I called my brother a homophobe poo just for you. He gave me an odd look and walked away. :D Fear not, there is Yuuram ahead._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kyo Kara Moah!_

_On with the chapter..._

* * *

><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

I never felt like home was so far away. I looked back just once to see the blonde leaning against the school gate. How could he do something like that? I shivered as I still remembered the places he touched. I yelled at myself to get away from those types of thoughts, but it was really hard. As soon as I entered my house, I ran upstairs and straight into the bathroom. I desperately needed a cold shower. Why would I... towards him?

"Yuu-chan, is everything alright?" my mom's voice asked.

"I'm fine," I replied.

"Are you sure? You're home a little early, aren't you?" she pressed.

"It was boring, very boring," I replied, wishing she would go away.

"Alright then, but you know mama doesn't like it when you lie, Yuu-chan. It makes me very upset," she answered back.

I sighed. "Mom, please. Not now."

She didn't reply and left me to my thoughts. What should I do?

... ... ...

"How long are you going to sleep, you wimp?" I heard Wolfram's voice ask.

"Five more minutes," I mumbled.

"If you don't get up, I'll attack you again," Wolfram said as I felt a weight suddenly on my stomach.

My eyes snapped open to find Wolfram really was in my room and sitting on my stomach. "Wolf, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, but your mom told me you were still sleeping. She really is a happy person, isn't she?" Wolfram replied.

"But... you... last night," I stammered.

"I've decided last night that I'm not going to sit back and wait for you to acknowledge you're my fiancé. Instead, I'll let it be known to everyone who you belong to. Don't be surprised Monday morning when there aren't girls surrounding you and giggling like they actually think your jokes are funny," Wolfram stated with a triumphant smile.

"Wh-what?" I panicked.

"It's about time you realized that you are mine," Wolfram said. (AN: How's that for a bold Wolf :D )

"You can't be serious," I said, staring up at him.

"I'm quite serious and today, you are taking me on a date," he said, leaning closer to me.

"I'm taking you out on a date?" I questioned, trying to push my head back further into the pillow.

"Yes, you are," Wolfram replied before getting off of me.

I let out a sigh of relief. I almost thought he was going to try to... Never mind. Those types of thoughts aren't good this early in the morning. I glanced over at Wolfram as I got out of bed. This was the first time I have ever seen him in everyday clothes. It was odd. I could only ever picture him wearing the uniform or formal clothes. Before he could catch me staring at him, I left the room and headed to the bathroom. This was definitely not the way I planned to start out my free day.

... ... ...

After preparing myself for the day, I walked downstairs to find mom and Wolfram talking and laughing like they were best friends. I didn't think anything of it until I saw what was laying in front of Wolfram on the table. Mom had brought out the baby pictures.

"Ready to go or do you want to keep my mom company?" I asked, hoping to get him away from my mom as soon as possible.

Wolfram looked over at me and smiled deviously. "Yeah. Let's go."

I quickly slipped on my shoes and walked out of the house. Wolfram quickly followed after me and grabbed my hand. I shook it off and he frowned.

"What were you and mom talking about before?" I asked, trying to avoid the awkwardness.

"About when you were little." He paused to look at me. "You looked really cute in those dresses your mom bought you. Maybe you should wear the wedding dress at our wedding."

I stopped immediately. "Are you serious?"

"No. Neither of us have to wear a dress. I think we'd be made fun of for years if one of us did," he replied, laughing.

That wasn't what I meant. "Good. I don't want to repeat my childhood."

"So you don't want to remember?" Wolfram asked quietly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I wish I could remember my past. I really do," I said.

"Why do you think you didn't start to remember until now? Your mom said she had shown you the albums before, but you couldn't remember anything," Wolfram said.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I saw everyone or maybe I just happened to remember," I replied.

Wolfram frowned. "What I still don't understand is why it took so long for us to find out. No one ever told Mei or me. Mei found out from a letter that your brother sent two years after it happened. Two years, Yuuri! Do you know how horrible those two years were? Mei was kicked out of her home after her father died, she had locked herself inside her room at the castle once she got there, and when I finally thought she was going to stay, she left me alone again. She went to stay in Switzerland with a guy named Bob. I finally wasn't alone all the time and she just left! Then, I get told a couple months later about what happened to you! I didn't completely understand it then, but I knew that I wouldn't be seeing you for a long time! You never came after that! Years went by and everything got so much worse! It's my fault, Yuuri! It's my fault! If I had only stayed out of the way, James wouldn't have gotten hurt. It's my fault he died!"

Wolfram was crying. Luckily, no one was else was walking down this street. I attempted to wipe away his tears, but he wouldn't stop crying. Then, I panicked. What should I do? Uh. Um. I slowly reached out my arms and hugged him tightly. He flinched before burying his head on my shoulder. His soft, golden hair tickled my shoulder.

"And then he had the nerve to just..." I heard a nearby girl's voice say.

"Uh. Wolf, are you okay?" I asked, hoping she wasn't going to turn the corner and see.

Wolfram suddenly pushed me away and rubbed his eyes. "I'm fine."

I frowned. It was obvious he wasn't fine after that outburst. "Where do you want to go today?" I asked, hoping not to upset him more.

He looked over at me with his eyes red from crying. "I want to go to the places you usually go."

"The places I usually go?" I questioned.

"The places you go with your friends. I want to know your favorite places," he said.

"Oh. Okay. Follow me," I said.

He wants to see my favorite places? I couldn't stop myself from thinking that it was a little cute. Still, he was just crying. He really wasn't fine and anyone could tell he was just crying. How long has he been suppressing his feelings to make him snap like that? I don't think I should take him to a place crowded with people yet. Where should I take him? My favorite places, huh? Well, I can't take him to my old school's baseball field. That might be a little awkward. If not there, then the park. I've spent so much time there growing up.

"Have you ever been anywhere else besides your house and the school?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. I don't understand Japanese, so it's kind of hard to go anywhere. It's the same for most everyone else, too."

"Oh. Right. I keep forgetting you're not speaking Japanese," I said.

We walked on silently for a few minutes before Wolfram spoke again. "Where are we going?"

"You said yourself you wanted to see my favorite places," I simply replied.

He didn't say anything back to me. I glanced over at him. A slight smile played on his lips. I smiled myself. When he noticed me grinning at him, his eyes widened a little and he turned away from me while muttering a few words. Even though he turned his head away from me, I saw a small part of his face still and it was turning pink.

... ... ...

"A park?" Wolfram questioned.

I nodded. "I come here all the time."

"With friends?" he asked.

"Sometimes," I replied, sitting down on a bench.

He joined me, but didn't say anything more. Instead, he watched two kids playing catch. I recognized one of the boys as the little brother of my old teammate, Misaki. What was the kid's name? Now that I think about it, I saw Misaki here a couple weeks ago. He was talking to me when Conrad walked up. He knew Conrad was a prince. I wonder if he or any of the others with him told anyone about that. I wonder what he thinks of me now.

"Yuuri-nii!" Misaki's younger brother called out, running toward me and waving.

"It's been awhile," I replied as he stopped in front of me.

"How come you aren't at Misaki's practices anymore?" he asked.

"I don't go to the same school as him anymore," I answered.

"Really? He didn't tell me that. I was really looking forward to playing baseball with you next year," he said, frowning.

"Sorry," I said, frowning with him.

"Daisuke!" Misaki's voice called out.

We all turned our heads towards Misaki. Daisuke called out to him. He was with some other guys from the team. They weren't the same guys from before. These three (Souta, Tetsu, and Yuuta) were a group I considered my friends. All of them smiled when they saw me and two of them ran over to me. One of them, Souta, even ruffled my hair much to Wolfram's displeasure. Wolfram looked absolutely furious. He was muttering cruel things under his breath and glaring at the others. No one seemed to notice the angry blonde beside me.

"How have you been Shibuya?"

"Do you really have a girlfriend? Mori said he saw you with a girl."

"Is there a lot of hot girls at your school?"

"Foreign girls are the best! I wish I could go to your school!"

I glanced over at Wolfram. He was still glaring, but he also looked absolutely lost. For the first time, I was grateful that I spoke two languages and Wolfram had no idea what everyone was saying. If he wasn't lost, he would've yelled several unpleasant things and called me a cheater for flirting with an imaginary girl that apparently goes to our school.

"_What are they saying_?!" Wolfram snapped, causing everyone to turn their attention to him. (NOTE: italics = Shin Makoku language)

Several mouths gaped open at the blonde and Misaki was the only one that spoke. "I thought it might have been a coincidence that you knew Prince Conrart since you go to that school and the founder is from Shin Makoku. Maybe he visited the school regularly or something, but you also know Prince Wolfram. How?"

I laughed nervously. "Wolf's a childhood friend. Our families knew each other for a long time."

"How come you never told us you knew royalty?" Souta asked.

I glanced over at Wolfram, who gave me a questioning look. "We never talked about it before."

"_Yuuri_," Wolfram said, tugging on my sleeve.

"_These are some of my friends from my old school. We were on the baseball team together_," I explained.

"Whoa! Yuuri-nii, what did you just say?" Daisuke asked.

"I was just telling him who you all were," I replied.

"He doesn't speak Japanese?" Souta asked.

I shook my head. "No."

"_What are they saying_?" Wolfram asked, frowning at everyone staring at him.

"_Don't worry about it, Wolf. They're only curious about you_," I answered, trying to reassure him.

"_Ah! This is so frustrating_!" Wolfram snapped.

My friends all took a step back, except for Misaki. "Is he okay?" Tetsu asked.

"Yeah. He's frustrated by the language barrier," I said.

"Yuuri, we're going to the usual place for lunch. Do you want to come along? The prince can come along, too," Misaki said, changing the topic.

I turned to Wolfram. "_They_ _want to know if we want to join them for lunch_." Wolfram frowned. "_Do you want to know where I go with my friends or not_?"

"_I_ _didn't mean it in the way that I want to spend the day with your friends. We're supposed to be on a date_." He paused, glanced over at everyone, and sighed. "_Fine, but you owe me later_."

"So?" Souta questioned.

"He's excited to go," I lied.

"Really?" Misaki questioned, watching him.

"Yeah. He hasn't gone to many places in Japan yet," I replied.

"Let's go then," Tetsu said.

"Can I go, too?" Daisuke asked.

"Actually, mom sent me here to find you. She mentioned something about a bad grade of a math test," Misaki said.

"How did she find out about that?" Daisuke asked, looking at Misaki suspiciously.

"Your teacher called mom," he replied.

... ... ...

Wolfram stared at the menu for a long time before glancing over at me. I've never seen him so helpless before. Everyone in the restaurant stared at him in awe. A few people pointed and whispered. Wolfram smirked at those who stared at him and flipped his hair, causing several girls to squeal. I guess that was the only thing he could do in a situation like this. After we got our orders (Wolfram got the same thing as I did), Wolfram stared down at the food. He watched me take a bite of my food before taking a bite of his own food. He smiled and took another bite.

"I feel like I'm watching a little kid copying everything his parent does," Souta commented, laughing.

Wolfram looked up at him with a clueless expression before glancing at me. The rest of the others burst out laughing while clapping Souta on the back. Even I let slip a small chuckle.

"_What_ _are all of you laughing about_?!" Wolfram snapped.

Everyone suddenly stopped. "_Don't_ _worry about it, Wolf. My friends are making jokes_."

"_Well, I don't like it! I'm going home_!" Wolfram yelled, standing up.

I grabbed his arm. "_Wolf, please. If it bothers you that much, I'll translate everything they say_." I turned to the guys. "_You were just making jokes, right_? Making jokes?" They all nodded. "_See_."

Wolfram scoffed before sitting back down. "_Make sure you tell me everything_."

"_I will_," I replied.

Luckily after that, everyone got along well. Despite the language barrier, Wolfram was laughing and smiling along with everyone else. It made me happy to see him getting along with my friends. It was another side of him I got to see today. I guess he's never been around other boys. Usually, the girls cling to him and glare at anyone who passes him while he wore a forced smile on his face. This was a genuine smile and in no way forced.

After we ate, we went to karaoke, where Wolfram fumbled over every word and ended up humming along. After that, we walked through the streets. Souta and Tetsu pulled Wolfram and Yuuta over to a store where they were selling hairpins for girls. One of them had pinned Wolfram's hair behind his ear with a hairpin with a blue rose on it. It suited him. He looked back at me. I smiled and chuckled. He blushed and ripped the hairpin out. Then, something caught Wolfram's attention down the street and he pointed it out to the other three. The four of them ran ahead.

"Looks like you've got a good friend at that school. Good. I was worried," Misaki said.

"I still have Murata," I said.

"Murata is... he's something, but Wolfram seems genuine," Misaki replied.

"Would you believe it if I told you this is my first time in a long time seeing him act like that?" I asked.

"Really? Well, I guess it doesn't surprise me that much. I don't know him personally like you do, but I do know some of the history of Shin Makoku and of the current events happening. I guess it's a good thing he can still have fun," Misaki said.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

... ... ...

"I'm home!" I called out, entering the house with Wolfram following closely behind me.

"Welcome back!" mom called out from the kitchen.

We both entered the living room and watched (or in Wolfram's case attempted to watch) the television until mom called us for dinner. Dad was going to be late again and Shori wasn't home, so it was only the three of us. Mom asked a few things about Shin Makoku, but didn't say much about anything else. That was, until we finished eating.

"Your mother called earlier and told me she was going to France and that Gwendal and Conrart were going back to Shin Makoku for awhile. Are you going to be all by yourself?" mom asked.

"No, there's still the maids even though they leave at night. It's fine, though. I don't mind," Wolfram replied.

"That's not okay. You should stay here. At least, just for tonight since you're already here," she said.

I almost dropped my plate. "Huh?"

"Don't be rude, Yuu-chan," mom scorned.

"Thank you, but I don't want to intrude," Wolfram said.

Mom frowned. "You are not intruding, right Yuu-chan?"

Wolfram turned his attention to me. "Yeah."

"It's settled then. You're staying the night," Mom said enthusiastically. "Now where did we put that extra futon?"

... ... ...

This was awkward. I turned on my side and watched Wolfram. His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady, but I didn't trust it. He could snap and attack me at any moment. My eyelids were feeling heavy, so I risked it and let my eyes close. Then, I felt my blanket being lifted off of me. I knew it. The attack I expected never came, though. Instead, I found heat added beside me that had a pleasant smell. When I opened my eyes, I found Wolfram curled up against me. I watched him for a few minutes, but he didn't move after that. I sighed and closed my eyes. What was I going to do?

* * *

><p><em>There. I threw some Yuuram at you to make up for the lack of Yuuram in the last chapter. Okay. I want to say that, but if you read the AN from the last chapter, I wrote this chapter before the previous one.<em>

_Language barriers are horrible. I know from experience when I went to France. I started taking French after that. :)_

_Shall I talk about Yuuri's old friends (AKA my OCs)? I honestly have no idea how much they will appear in this story or if they will ever appear again after this chapter, so I think I will talk about them. Yes, I am aware these are all first names. First names are easier to come up with than last names. Misaki: In my mind, Misaki was actually Yuuri's best friend, but Yuuri always put Murata in place of him. Yuuri never really thought about how much he asked Misaki for advice. Basically, Misaki is the nice guy, who doesn't really get much attention. Souta, Tetsu, and Yuuta: They are three friends that have always been together. They basically are their own group. Souta is the one with crazy ideas and is always excited about everything and anything. Tetsu is the one that goes along with everything Souta does and isn't very smart. Yuuta, on the other hand, is the intelligent, silent one that doesn't often get involved in Souta's crazy ideas. (SIDE NOTE: Yuuta was the one that put the rose pin in Wolf's hair :D)_

_Does anybody know if Misaki is a girl's name? My friend, Yuki, tells me she's never met a boy named Misaki. I thought it sounded like a boy name..._

_So I don't know when my next chapter will be out. I'm going to be moving soon and university is going to be starting again. I hope my professors are nice enough this year not to suffocate me with papers. Right. That'll never happen._

_As usual, please review and look forward to the next chapter._


	17. Chapter 17: Rumors

_It's been awhile. Throws self on the floor to grovel at your feet. I am ashamed of myself. Sorry a million times and yes I know I said I would get this chapter up the first week of May, but I was only a few days off._

_**Nickesha**__, __**soulxspirit125**__, __**Elle Werner **__and __**Guest**__ (whoever you are you mysterious person you): Thank you for the reviews! 3_

_**Jielin**__: I haven't actually watched K Project yet. I heard it's good so it's on my list of anime I must watch._

_Disclaimer: I don't own KKM_

_Now, I won't keep you anymore from this chapter. :D_

* * *

><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in an awkward situation. First, I was in pain and I found a couple newly formed bruises. Second, the only part of me still on my bed was my legs. Finally, there was a certain blonde sprawled out completely on my bed. I would say he could be an angel if not for the grumbling in his sleep, the snoring, and his flailing arms and legs. I stared up at him and wondered what to do next. Should I just leave him or wake him up? A soft knock came at my door.

"Yuuri, I'm going out shopping," mom said.

"Okay," I replied.

I listened to her walk away and heard the front door close. Wolf stirred in his sleep. I carefully removed my legs from the bed and stood up. I glanced down at Wolf before slowly inching toward my bedroom door. He was grumbling something, but I didn't hear what he was saying. I opened my door and glanced back at him once again before walking to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and sighed at my reflection. These bruises would be hard to explain if anyone asked about them. I patted down my hair and turned on the sink to wash my face. I bent my head down toward the sink and splashed water on my face. I wonder how those people on the commercials do it. I always manage to get water up my nose. I reached over and grabbed a towel to dry off my face. When I looked up again in the mirror, I saw Wolfram walking down the hallway. He came into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around me. I felt him say something into the back of my shirt.

"Do you need to use the bathroom?" I asked.

Wolfram shook his head. "I'm tired."

"You can go back to sleep if you want. Mom went out shopping so I can make some breakfast if you want something," I replied, attempting to push his arms off me.

He looked up at the reflection of us and shook his head again. "No. Just come back to bed."

I blushed at that and turned around to face him. That was a mistake. He smiled at me and leaned in toward me so our lips were close together. That's when I heard the front door shut and my brother called out that he was home. I breathed a sigh of relief, but Wolf ignored it and pressed his lips to mine. I raised my hands up to push him away, but they failed to listen to me. Instead, they rested on his shoulders and he pushed himself as close as he could to me. My eyes started to flutter shut while my brain was screaming at me to make him stop. The internal struggle continued as I heard footsteps climbing the stairs. Wolfram's tongue darted out of his mouth and licked my bottom lip. I slowly started to open my mouth to allow him entrance when I froze when the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted us. I immediately pushed Wolf away and turned to see Shori standing there with an angry expression.

"Shori, what are you doing here? I thought you went to Switzerland to visit Bob," I said as Wolf reluctantly back away from me.

"I was, but I came back because..." he trailed off as the sound of the front opening again caused us to look down the hallway to the stairs.

"Shori! Are you back yet?! I hope so because I really, really need to talk to you!" Mei's voice rang out as she walked up the stairs. She stopped when she saw us. She smiled at me, but frowned when she saw Wolf poke his head out of the bathroom behind me. She nodded her head at him and turned to Shori before walking into Shori's bedroom.

"We'll talk about this later," Shori said looking between Wolf and me before following Mei into his room.

"When did they become close?" Wolf asked.

"I don't know," I replied, leaving the bathroom and walking back into my room.

Wolf followed closely behind me. I walked directly to my closet and pulled out some clothes. Wolf sighed and grumbled something about wanting to lay down together. I ignored him and threw some of my clothes at him. He glanced down at them and gave me a confused expression. I left the room and returned to the bathroom where I changed. Before I returned to my room, I knocked on Shori's door. He answered after a few seconds and asked what I want.

"Wolf and I are going out," I said.

"You're dating him?!" he asked.

"No. We are leaving the house and going somewhere," I corrected him.

He blushed a little at his mistake. "Oh. Okay."

He started to close the door again, but I stuck my foot out to prevent him from shutting it all the way. "Is Mei okay?"

He looked shocked. "Yeah. Of course she's okay. Never been better. Why do you ask?"

"I thought she didn't like you," I mumbled.

He scowled at me. "Just because she didn't like me when we were younger, doesn't mean that she hates me now."

I stared at him and realization hit me like a ton of bricks. "Do you like her?"

"Yeah. We're friends," he replied.

"No, do you _like_ her?" I repeated.

He stared at me for a moment before kicking my foot out of the way and slamming his door shut. Does he? I was about to knock on his door again when Wolf walked out of my room. He had on the clothes I threw at him. They didn't suit him as well as his clothes do. They were a little loose on him, too.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"I don't know exactly," I replied.

He stared at me for a minutes. "So what are we going to do today?"

"Whatever you feel like doing since we ended up hanging out with my friends yesterday," I replied.

His eyes widened. "You're actually going to go on a date with me."

"It's not a date. We're doing things together," I said.

"It's a date," Wolf said, putting his hands on his hips.

I really don't know what to do with him anymore. I guess I'll let him have his way this time. "Fine. Whatever you want to call it. Let's go."

... ... ... ... ... ...

**Meiline's POV**

Shori was home. He sent me a text early this morning to let me know his flight was coming in. He had been in Switzerland with Bob at first, but he secretly flew to Shin Makoku with him to check on the hectic situation. Bob was going straight back to Switzerland, but Shori decided to come home for a few weeks. I had asked him to pay my uncle a visit while he was there. Now that I think about it, I forgot to ask if he did. I heard from Effe that it was rumored that he was in bad health. I would ask him directly how he was doing, but he basically disowned me after he forced me out of his house. He doesn't answer the phone if it's me. He has a maid answer and she takes a messages and every time he doesn't call me back. I got in the shower knowing it would take him a little time to get back. After I got out, I put on the first thing I pulled out of my closet and combed my hair back into a ponytail. I texted him I was on my way to his house. He replied that he was, too. When I reached the house, I let myself in and saw Shori's shoes and his suitcase. I also saw Yuuri's and another pair of shoes that I didn't recognize. Maybe they belonged to Murata. Miko's shoes were missing I shut the door behind me.

"Shori! Are you back yet?! I hope so because I really, really need to talk to you!" I shouted as I walked up the stairs.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I found Shori down the hallway standing outside the bathroom door. Yuuri was poking his head out from the bathroom. I smiled at him and was about to greet him, but was distracted by the fact that Wolfram poked his head out of the bathroom, too. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him today. At least Yuuri and him were getting along again. I nodded my head to him because it's rude not to acknowledge him before turning and walking into Shori's room. I left the door open behind me and sat on his bed. He came in a few seconds later after saying something to Yuuri. He walked in the room and shut the door behind me.

"You didn't tell anyone I went to Shin Makoku, did you? Mom would be upset with me if she found out I went to a country in the middle of a civil war," Shori said before I could say anything.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Shin Makoku has been in a civil war since before I was born."

"You know it's been worse lately. People are becoming restless and demanding that your mother step down from the throne. Some even want her dead. Groups are getting together that are furious that Wolfram is rumored to be in line for the throne. They are saying that it will only be a repeat of his mother's reign. Bob tried to convince some of them to change their minds. Most of them shunned him. Others were hoping that Shinou has found someone. It's interesting that a lot of people trust your uncle Shinou rather than anyone else in your family. Though, Shinou always had a way with persuading people. I think that whoever Shinou chooses will gain a lot of favor from the people. You mentioned before that Saralegui was going to school at Julia Academy. It's odd. We heard rumors that Saralegui would be the one to take the throne if his family wins this war. It's all bad news," Shori said, sitting beside me and sighing.

"So Saralegui would become king? I find that rather odd. His parents were shunned for several years for treason and suddenly, they want the son of the treasonous couple as king," I replied.

"As I said, it was a rumor," he corrected me.

I shrugged. "Rumor or not, it's still bad news."

He frowned. "I also heard a rumor that the nobles believe that my little brother is who Shinou is selecting. I'm curious as to what makes them believe that. I know that Shinou is here in Japan, but there are several students from Shin Makoku that Shinou could pick from. Him being here doesn't mean that he's going to pick anyone from Julia Academy anyway. I think it's ridiculous."

"With Shinou in charge of picking, anything is possible. He has a strange way of doing things, but somehow everything works in his favor," I said.

Shori's eyes narrowed. "I don't like him."

I laughed. "I don't either."

A knock came at Shori's door. He sighed and walked to it. He cracked the door open and I heard Yuuri's voice. He and Wolf were going to go somewhere. He also asked something else and Shori started getting defensive. I don't know what it was, but it caused Shori to slam his door in Yuuri's face. When he turned around, I laughed. His face was bright red. I really wish I knew what Yuuri said to embarrass him so bad. He didn't sit back down beside me. Instead, he pulled out his desk chair and sat in it. His eyes wouldn't connect to mine.

"Did you go see my uncle like I asked?" I asked, still amused by his new attitude.

He looked at me for a second and nodded. "The rumors about his health being bad were partially true. He had a heart attack, but he's alive. The doctors said it was probably the stress of being head of the noble house finally catching up with him. I believe that he really is ignoring any contact with you. He was willing to speak with me until I mentioned I was there because you asked me to. Then, he refused to speak with me directly. Do you think he's afraid you want to become the head of the family?"

I thought about it. "Possibly, but I doubt it because he has ignored me since I left his house. I think he is just afraid of something he can't control. I didn't listen to him very well when I lived with him so he sent me away to mother's."

"A man like him shouldn't be head of house if he's scared that he can't keep control. Men like that almost always become obsessed with power," Shori said.

"Yeah." I paused, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "How is Bob?"

"I want to say he is good, but he's hard to understand. I bet he is having a hard time since you're gone." Shori smiled.

"What can that man do without me?" I asked jokingly.

"How are you doing?" Shori asked.

"I'm doing better than I expected. People are more respectful than I thought they were going to be to me. If anyone has a problem with me, they don't say anything to me. I do think people are careful about what they say to us. Maybe they're afraid that they think we'll accuse them of treason if they say anything against our family. It doesn't matter to me," I replied.

"I see the relationship between your little brother and you hasn't improved any," Shori noted.

"That isn't exactly true. I've spoken to him more these past few months than I have in a few years," I corrected him.

He smiled. "I told you it was impossible for you to ignore your little for a long time."

"I don't have a brother complex like you. Besides, I don't know how much I would've talked to him if Yuuri hadn't become friends with him."

Shori suddenly gasped. "That reminds me. I interrupted your brother kissing my brother in the bathroom earlier. What is that about? Explain."

My eyes widened and I blinked a few times at Shori. "They were kissing? I didn't know their relationship progressed that far. I thought they were only friends. When did this happen? I should text Yuuri and ask him."

"Wait. I asked Yuuri and he said they weren't dating," Shori said, stopping me from pulling my cell phone out of my pocket.

"They were kissing, but they aren't dating. I'm pretty sure they aren't married yet and every time someone mentions the engagement in front of Yuuri, he panics." I paused and was horrified by my next thought. "Friends with benefits."

"No. My little brother wouldn't do that. He would date someone if they were to do something like that, wouldn't he? Right?" Shori questioned, starting to panic.

I stood and walked over to him and put my hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay with the idea of Wolfram and Yuuri dating?"

He stared at me for a few moments before answering. "I can't say I can agree with it yet, but I'd rather they were dating then be friends with benefits."

"Okay. We both agree that they should be dating so let's make sure it happens," I said.

Shori nodded. I got Yuuri's brother to be okay with it. I knew for weeks now that Wolfram would kiss Yuuri whenever he got the chance. The knowledge of them kissing wasn't a surprise to me. You're welcome, Wolf.

* * *

><p><em>:3 Bwahahaha! Meiline just got Shori to jump on the Yuuram train.<em>

_By the way, for those who do friends with benefits, I don't hold any grudges against you. I have friends who do that. I just don't do those type of relationships._

_Review, follow, and PM me if you want. I reply._

_I promise I won't wait 9 months this time to update._


	18. Chapter 18: Easydobbing Part 2

_Hey everyone! Lyssa is moving to Japan and my Japanese friend Chi moved back to Japan. I want to go! I'm going to finish university as fast as I can and move in with Lyssa. I will become her housewife until I can speak fluent Japanese and get a job. Then, I will move out and marry an amazing Japanese man who loves manga and anime as much I do and we will have beautiful babies together. That is my plan and I'm sticking with it. :P_

_**Elle**__**Werner**__, __**soulxspirit125**__, and __**Nickesha**__: Thank you for sticking with this story and always reviewing even though I always take forever to update! It means so much! :)_

_**zeldahope9**__: Ah! Thank you! :)_

_**Shiori Kudo**__: His name is Dell Kearson? Wow. Thanks! I think I'll stick with what I originally called him, but it's nice to know what his actually name was. Also, I figured out that Rinji was the Japanese pronunciation of Lindsay, but thanks for telling me._

_Disclaimer: I don't own KKM!_

_... ... ..._

**Switzerland 6 years ago (Mei's POV)**

I was sitting at Bob's desk. He was sitting on the sofa by the window. I frowned at the sunglasses that he wore. We were inside a building. Even if the wall were made completely of glass, it wasn't bright enough in here to wear sunglasses. Plus, I couldn't tell if he was looking at me or not. I shifted in his chair and looked back down at the paper in front of me. Weeks had passed since I first called Yuuri after reading the letter from Shori. I still had a hard time believing it, but I called Yuuri again and again. Every question I asked him was left without an answer. His true answers were somewhere lost in his forgotten memories. I picked up the pen laying by the paper and wrote Wolf's name before replacing the pen to its previous location. It crushed me to learn that Yuuri didn't remember me. How would Wolf react? My mind traveled to that scene a couple years ago. Wolf and Yuuri in the garden and Yuuri making a promise to Wolf to see him again. I glanced up at Bob again. He was still working on his grown-up homework. I didn't understand what he did, but it involved a lot of big words and numbers. He also traveled a lot and I would go with him sometimes. It was fun.

"How is the letter going?" Bob suddenly asked, his face turned toward me.

I sighed. "I don't know what to write without making him sad," I replied, glaring down at the paper with Wolf's name on it.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," he said.

That didn't help me. I frowned at him and looked down at the paper. I pulled open one of the drawers of Bob's desk. It was filled it pens, pencils, highlighters, tape, a stapler, etc. All the normal office stuff. I shut the drawer and opened a different one. It had papers and notebooks with big words scribbled all over them. I frowned at that discovery. I can't wait to get older so I can read all that stuff and understand it. I tried to open the drawer below that one, but it was stuck. On closer inspection of the drawer, I noticed there was a lock on it. I glared at it, knowing that it wouldn't unlock it anyway, but it made me feel better.

"Are you looking for something?" Bob asked.

"No. I'm going to go to my room," I replied, slipping out of his chair and walking toward the door.

"Have you finished the letter?" he asked.

I looked him. "I'll finish it later."

He pushed his sunglasses down so I could see his eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to call him?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to hear him cry."

He didn't say anything to me after that and I left the room. I walked down the hallway and almost ran into Bob's secretary. I didn't like her and she didn't like me. She gave me a horribly fake sweet smile before stepping around me and entering into Bob's office. I hate that woman almost as much as I hated my mother. Maybe I even hated her more. She tried to act like she was my mother and whenever Bob wasn't around, she yelled at me all the time. Dumb hag. I tore my gaze away from the door and proceeded down the hall and pushed the button to call the elevator. My bedroom was two floors below. When the doors opened, I was startled to see Doctor Rodriguez. I hadn't seen him in years. Behind him, a Japanese boy stood holding hands with my teenage uncle Shinou. At first, I hoped it was Yuuri, but it definitely wasn't him. This boy stared straight at me through a pair of glasses without staying anything.

"Hello Mei," Shinou said.

I looked up at him before returning my attention to the Japanese boy. "Hi."

The three of them got off the elevator as I got on. I never took my eyes off the boy as the elevator doors shut. There was something odd about him that I couldn't quite figure out. Right before the doors closed, he smiled at me. Weird. The elevator doors opened again. I stared at the empty hallway before looking at the buttons. Eavesdropping is bad, but the curiosity of who the boy was irritated me. I pushed the button to the top floor and returned to the hallway. I tiptoed to the office door and pressed my ear against it.

"- relative of the Great Wise Man. How do we know this isn't a fraud?" Bob asked sternly.

Great Wise Man? He was the man with black hair in a portrait in the castle. It was beside of a portrait of a blonde man that looked like uncle Shinou. The blonde was the first king of Shin Makoku. Uncle Stoffel told me Shinou was named after him. I saw people staring at those portraits a lot. Conrart told me they were very important people that a lot of people respected. He called them heroes.

"DNA that was collected proved it. Besides, what person would admit to being a blood relative of him? It would be asking for an assassination. This boy and his parents know the true history of Shin Makoku. He told me a story on the way here about..." Doctor Rodriguez started.

"He was telling you stories?! He can't just tell anybody! It's dangerous!" Bob yelled. I flinched. He seemed angry. I've never heard him this angry before.

"Relax Bob. I'm not going to tell anybody," Doctor Rodriguez replied.

I didn't understand what they were talking about, but I heard Bob ask the boy a question in a softer voice. I didn't hear a response, but I did hear someone walking toward the door. I gasped and ran as quietly down the hall as I could. I repeatedly pushed the elevator call button and hoped that they wouldn't open the door. Luckily, they didn't and I got in the elevator. The second the elevator doors opened, I ran to my room. A few minutes later, a knock came at my door. I stared up at the door. I walked over to it and cracked it open to see Shinou and the Japanese boy standing outside the door.

"Hey, Mei. Do you mind playing with him for awhile? The grown-ups need to talk," Shinou said, smiling.

I looked at the Japanese boy. He was smiling again. It was an odd smile. He must not be bad though if uncle thinks he's okay to play with. I opened my door and the Japanese boy let go of Shinou's hand. He walked past me and into the room. He sat on the floor by my table. I watched him as he studied the room. I turned around to ask Shinou who he was, but Shinou had already left. I shrugged my shoulders and closed the door. When I turned back around, the boy had my homework pulled over to him. He was staring at it. Did he understand it? How old was he? He was about the size of Wolfram, but maybe a little taller. I sat across from him and watched as he looked through the papers and books.

"How old are you?" I asked in Japanese.

The boy didn't look up. "Ten."

I smiled. "You're the same age of my little brother."

He didn't reply. This was a little frustrating. Homework isn't that interesting. It's annoying. Oh. Maybe he doesn't understand what it says. After all, he's Japanese and we're in Switzerland.* Is he curious? I sat beside him and was about to point out what certain words were, but he quickly stopped me by telling me the answer to the next question. I was stunned. It took me years to learn Japanese (I did it for Yuuri) and I was still having trouble adjusting to the language here. Maybe he was a genius.

... ... ...

**Present Day (Mei's POV)**

I sighed as I stared at Murata. I don't know why I ever thought this boy was a genius. Yeah. He's smart, but he is absolutely weird outside of his studies. I watched him as he stared at his food intently. I smelled it and nibbled at it. He did that for each separate food before putting everything in a bowl together and pulling a small container of wasabi from his pocket. He opened the contained and put enough wasabi on his food to make someone who loves wasabi to cringe. He took his chopsticks and stirred everything together. I was about to vomit when he put the first bite in his mouth. He smiled contently to himself before glancing up at me.**

"Are you okay, Mei? You look a little pale," he said.

"I just don't have much of an appetite," I replied, pushing my tray away from me.

Today was a rare day where we decided to eat lunch in the cafeteria. Why? I don't know. Gisela told me to meet her here. I looked around and hoped Yuuri and Wolf would walk in. I do like Murata, but I need something else to look at while he's eating. As I glanced around the cafeteria, I caught a pair of eyes staring at me. I didn't recognize who he was so I shrugged it off and caught sight of Dacauscos glancing nervously around the room with a tray in his hands. It was odd to see him without Gisela. She probably told him to go on without her. I was about to stand up and wave him over, but Yuuri and Wolf walked in the cafeteria. They walked over to Dacauscos and started scanning the room with him. Wolf spotted me and pointed over to where Murata and I sat. Wolf and Yuuri walked over to the food and Dacauscos walked over to us. He sat down beside Murata. He glanced at Murata's food and his face turned a little paler.

"Where is Gisela?" I asked, drawing his attention away from Murata.

"Miss Gisela went back to Shin Makoku temporarily, my lady," Dacauscos replied.

I frowned. "I only talked to her just this morning."

"She left an hour ago, my lady," he said in an apologetic tone.

"Please don't call me 'my lady' Dacauscos. Mei is fine. Just Mei," I said.

"Yes, er...Mei," he said with difficulty.

"Why was she called back to Shin Makoku so suddenly?" I asked.

"To be honest, I don't exactly know. I think they wanted her to continue her medical studies in Shin Makoku rather than study here. Actually, I think I might be going back soon as well. I don't mean to worry you, Miss Mei, but things aren't going so well in Shin Makoku. Things are starting to happen," he said, his tone was serious.

I sighed. "Things are always serious there. That isn't news."

"True, it isn't new, but the situation has gotten worse," he said, avoiding my eyes.

"Does Wolf know?" I asked quietly, glancing over to where Wolf and Yuuri stood.

"No. Her majesty wishes to keep this from him for know. It would be best not to mention anything to him at the moment," he said briskly, watching for Wolf.

"So that woman has the decency to keep at least one of her kids out of the problem, but it's completely okay for me to know. She isn't worried in the least about how I'd react to that," I snapped.

"No, no, Miss Mei. It isn't like that. I chose to tell you this information of my own accord. I highly doubt her majesty would want to worry you either. In my opinion, I wouldn't expect you to ask about Shin Makoku at all. She might be thinking the same. I beg pardon if that was rude of me to say," Dacauscos quickly defended.

I a little taken aback by how outspoken he was being. "No. Forgive me. I was drawing conclusions without any proof. It's okay. I only worry for Gisela. The last time people were called back to the capital, bad things happened."

Before either of us could say anything more, Murata interrupted us. "As fascinating as your conversation is, if you wish to fulfill Lady Cheri's wish, you might want to be quiet since Wolfram and Yuuri are walking this way."

Silence spread between us as the two approaching took their seats. No matter where we were, Wolf always sat as far away from me as possible. Meanwhile, Elizabeth somehow always sat somewhere where she could stare at the group of us with a displeased expression. Today, she seemed to be in a particularly worse mood than usual. As for the reason, I could easily guess from the whispered conversations that went on as Wolf and Yuuri passed. Also, Wolf was being more clingy to Yuuri than usual today.

"How many death threats did you get today?" I asked Yuuri.

Yuuri's eyes widened. "It got up to the upperclassmen already?"

"Did you forget your dating a prince? People pay attention to things like that whether you like it or not, but you don't have to worry because I don't think it's reached the upperclassmen yet. People don't know how to whisper very well. I only heard that way. Don't get too excited yet though. I'm betting everyone will know by the end of the day," I said.

Yuuri turned to Wolf. "Why did you have to tell people? We're not even dating."

"We're not dating yet, but _**we will**_ and I'm trying to keep those girls away from you. Also, you're a cheating wimp who always flirts with those girls and every girl he talks to," Wolf said in a matter-of-fact way.

I let the two alone to fight when I noticed that the headmaster walked into the cafeteria. He was searching for someone. Rinji? The younger kids had lunch before this. Surely, he of all people would know that. A few girls greeted him and he nodded to them in acknowledgement. His eyes caught mine and he smiled. I nodded at him. Then, his eyes shifted to the bickering couple beside me. The smile on his lips immediately disappearing. He walked over to us.

"Mr. Shibuya, Mr. von Bielefeld, would you two please come to my office after you've finished your lunch. There is someone who wishes to speak to the pair of you," he said, causing the two to quit fighting.

... ... ... Time Skip ... ... ...

I felt uneasy about this. I walked with Yuuri and Wolf to the office. I wanted to know who was there especially with what Dacauscos just told me. The three of us said nothing. Maybe they felt as uneasy as I did. I reached the door first and knocked. Headmaster von Wincott called for us to enter. The moment I entered the door, I frooze. I couldn't mistake the blond man I saw before me. Uncle Shinou smiled at us. He swiftly moved past me and took Yuuri's hands in his.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Shibuya. I have some exciting news for you. I wish to tell you in private." He paused and turned towards Wolf and I. "Would you two stand outside for a moment. I'll call you in once I'm done."

Wolf stared at Shinou before reluctantly turning around and leaving the room. News from Shinou could only mean one thing.I frowned at Shinou before following behind Wolf. I really didn't want to let Shinou go through with this, but this is Yuuri's choice. After the doors were closed, Wolf and I looked at each other for a moment before both of us pressing our ears against the doors.

"Mr. Shibuya, I have done some thinking and I've come to the conclusion that you are eligible to become the next in line to the throne in Shin Makoku. The ten heads of the noble houses wish for you to visit the capital and meet with you. They most likely want to evaluate you for themselves. Don't let that worry you though. You don't have to accept or go if you don't want to of course. It's all your choice," Shinou said enthusiastically.

There was complete silence in the room for a few seconds, but Yuuri eventually replied in a quiet voice. "You want me to become king of Shin Makoku?"

... ... ...

_*Yawn* I pushed myself to finish this while staring at moth that kept landing on my laptop. It kept fluttering around and getting in my way. I didn't want to kill it so I took my laptop and went into my living room, but then he followed me. I ended up naming him Mushi (because I recently watched Mushi-shi), but then I got angry with him and walked into the kitchen. Luckily, he was mesmerized by the kitchen light and left me alone to finish this chapter._

_Anyone have any siblings that graduated? I do. Two of them. My goodness they grow up so fast. *Wipes away tear*_

_Okay. Bye._


	19. Chapter 19: Flower Garden

_I'm back my lovely readers. So many good things happened this last month everyone. I'm so excited! I got a new job that I actually like, I lost weight, I think I finally found my other half, and Free! finally came out! Let's not forget all my new Followers! I'm so excited I can't sit still. There were a few bad things of course like losing my internet for a few days and my granddad was in the hospital, but I got my internet back and granddad is doing better. If anyone has been having a hard time lately, I spread my love to you. Take it! Take my love! 3 3 3 Here! Take a cookie also! \(^.^)/O or two...no here take three cookies! O\(^.^)/OO Three cookies for you! Cookie party! O\(^.^)/O (~'o')~ O\(^.^)/O_

_**Nickesha:**__ We shall go on a journey together to find some straight Japanese men. It'll be an adventure. I'll go make some onigiri for the trip. :D Congrats to your sister! Psst! Some Yuuram is heading your way ;)_

_**Elle Werner:**__ This chapter is in both Wolf and Yuuri's POV. There you go! :)_

_**soulxspirit125:**__ Thank you! Look forward to graduating! It's horrible to have to pay bills and everything, but I can read and watch yaoi all I want without worrying about my parents walking in the room. It's great._

_**zeldahope: **__*blush* I'm not amazing. I just like to write. *laughs nervously* Anyway, thank you for reading and please continue to read. :)_

_**moocow4me:**__ Oh my goodness! I love your username! Haha! I've always called cows moocows. My friends think it's weird. Anyway, Mushi flew away when my friend/roommate came home. He opened the door and let him out. I didn't speak to him for days. :'( Story updated!_

_**Talking sushi:**__ Instead of running away like any normal person would if being chased by a zombie or zombie-like walking person, I shall politely walk up to you with a silver platter, act like Sebastian Michaelis, and hand you this chapter. Once you have it, I shall run away until the next chapter is written._

_Disclaimer: I don't own KKM!_

* * *

><p><strong>Yuuri's POV<strong>

Wolfram sat on my bed as I packed. He had a blank look on his face as he bit his thumb nail. After Wolfram's uncle Shinou told me that I was considered for the next king of Shin Makoku, Wolf has been almost completely quiet around me. He didn't argue with me or cling to me. Instead, he wouldn't touch me or even look at me. He looked like he was deep in thought. He would sit silently and bit his nails. When I mentioned this odd behavior to Murata, he had told me that Wolf was already being seriously considered for the throne, too. The people of Shin Makoku were questioning this decision since his mother was apparently doing a very bad job. Was he angry? It wasn't until yesterday though did I seriously consider the offer.

**~FLASHBACK~**

I was laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. On the bedside table beside me, a ticket for a private plane to Shin Makoku was laid.* I glanced over at it and picket it up. I sighed as I looked at it. After Shinou had spoken to me, Mei had burst into the room and started yelling at Shionu. I hadn't heard what she was yelling about. I was too concerned with what I was just told. I could become a king if I wanted to. Why? What was so special about me? Did I even have the qualifications to become king? I'm not even a citizen of Shin Makoku. I replaced the ticket on the table. I didn't want to think about it anymore, but I was forced into thinking about it. The flight was scheduled to leave on Sunday morning. I closed my eyes and was about to fall asleep when my cell phone started ringing.

I picked it up and stared at the screen before answering it. "Wolf? Do you have any idea what time it is?

"Can you let me in?" he asked and hung up without giving me time to reply.

I got out of bed and walked over to my bedroom window to see him standing outside the front gate. He was still wearing his school uniform. He had disappeared earlier during the day. What had he been doing? I crept down the stairs and walked to the front door. When I opened the door, Wolf ran past the gate and kissed me hard on the lips. He had pushed me back into the house and closed the door behind him. He pulled away from me and raised both of his hands up to my face, cupping my cheeks. He pulled my face forward and kissed me once, twice, three times more. He was bothered by something. Him kissing me wasn't out of the ordinary anymore, but the worried look on his face and the desperation in his kiss troubled me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, pulling his hands away from my face.

Wolf bit his bottom lip. I frowned and pulled him toward the stairs. I didn't want to wake anyone up. We tiptoed up the stairs and into my room. He walked past me as soon as I opened the bedroom door and walked straight over to my bed. He sat on it and glanced at everything in the room. When his eyes landed on the plane ticket, he picked it up. I closed the door and sat beside him. I grabbed the ticket away from him, but his eyes stayed glued on it.

"Wolf? Are you okay?" I repeated.

He sat quietly for a few seconds before saying anything, but when he talked, it was so quiet I almost didn't hear it. "Did you decide what you're going to do?"

"No," I replied instantly, sighing.

The tension that was building by the second suddenly disappeared. I saw a slight smile break out on Wolf's face, but then it quickly fell. "I don't want to sway your decision, Yuuri. Honestly, I don't. My uncle was right. It's your choice. I just don't know if I feel okay with it. I'm worried. Things have never been good there and to be bluntly honest, mother hasn't had the easiest time these past few years. It isn't just because of the issues with Stoffel either. I don't want people to treat you harshly. Most people don't want to believe in any sort of authority anymore. They'll probably expect way too much out of you. It'll be a lot of pressure and you don't even know Shin Makoku very well yet. I want to believe you can do it, Yuuri. I do and..." he trailed off as the tears started escaping his eyes. "And it scares me so much to know that you could get hurt."

I didn't like the way Wolfram was acting. It wasn't like him. This side of Wolf was new to me and so unlike his usual self. He looked at me with so much pain in his eyes. I reached up and wiped away a tear away from his eye. I don't think he noticed that he started crying. He looked away from me and frowned. I pulled him into a hug and he limply sat there. It didn't take too long for him wrap his arms around me. He buried his face in my shirt and dug his nails into my back. He wasn't angry. He was panicked. It didn't matter to him in the least that we were both in line for the throne. I felt a little stupid. I should've known. Why would Wolf - who is so adamant about being with me - be angry with me for being his competition. I gently pulled Wolf away from me with a little difficulty because he wasn't letting go.

"What do you think I should do?" I asked. "I want to have your opinion," I quickly added.

Wolf stared into my eyes. "You'd make a great king, Yuuri. As much as a wimp that you can be at times, you're a genuinely good person. You have a caring heart and while that can be a downfall, I think it would do the people good to have someone like you to rule them. In a way, I think it might be a good thing that you didn't grow up in the that war zone so you weren't affected too much by it, but at the same time, I think Shinou is crazy to have someone as clueless about the situation as you rule. I can find problems either way. It really is up to you."

I looked at the ticket again. "I think I might go. I don't know if I can be a king, but I want to try and make Shin Makoku a better place for everyone. If becoming king is one of those things, then I might have to do it. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Okay. I have on condition though," Wolf said.

I cringed. "What?"

"I'm coming with you."

** ~PRESENT DAY~ **

Wolf yawned. His bags were placed beside my bed. I zipped my last bag closed and moved them over to where his were. Wolf laid back on my bed and closed his eyes. We were going to go to Shin Makoku tomorrow morning. I haven't been there in so many years and I don't even remember being there. Wolf rolled on his side and moved over toward the wall to make room for me. I joined him and tried to prepare myself to be kicked all night long. I still had fresh bruises from the night before. I gave up on kicking Wolf out of my bed a long time ago. He was stubborn, really stubborn. Almost instantly after Wolf fell asleep, his arm smacked me in the chest. I winced. It probably wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the fact that he hit me so hard. He had a small build, but he had muscles everywhere from practicing self-defense.

After an hour past and I was kicked for the twenty-second time and punched about twice as much, I was determined to find a way to sleep. From the previous times he stayed over, I had tried to move to the floor and sleep there, but I was woken up by a furious Wolf. I probably shouldn't do that again. As I was pondering what I should do, Wolf's arm flung towards my face. I quickly caught it and pulled it down. Wolf's face contorted into a frown and he struggled against me. I tightened my grip on his wrist, knowing that I'd get hit full strength if I let go. Suddenly, his other arms came towards me. I grabbed that arm with my free hand. Wolf was wiggling around crazily, trying to break himself free. I winced as he kicked my shins. I quickly wrapped my legs around his and locked my ankles together to prevent his legs from moving anymore. This was awkward I needed to do something. Maybe I should hug him. Would that calm him down a little? I pulled his arms toward me and his head rammed into my chest. I hope I didn't hurt him. I risked letting go of one of his arms and patted his head.

"Wolf, calm down. Please. Just calm down," I whispered, combing my fingers through his golden hair.

He made a small grunting noise, but he slowly quit struggling. He mumbled something and I heard him say my name. I blushed. Instead of hitting me again, his newly freed arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. My head rested under his chin. Really. This guy... I don't know what to do with him. I closed my eyes. I guess being smothered is better than getting beat up. I took a deep breath. He had an unexpectedly flowery smell. It was unrecognizable, but at the same time, it smelled familiar. It was a nice smell.

"Yuuri. No. Not safe. Be careful," Wolf muttered.

I lifted me head a little when something wet splashed on my nose. Wolf was crying again. I wanted him to stop. I wanted to wipe away the tears, but I couldn't with Wolf's grip being tight on me. Instead, I rested my head back down and hugged him tightly against me. I rubbed his back and waited for him to stop crying.

"Wolf. I'm here. Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise," I said.

It took a few minutes, but he finally calmed down. He never acted like this. He was really worried. Maybe Wolf had a bigger problem with me going to Shin Makoku than I thought. I know there's a civil war going on and it'll be dangerous. I understand that. I'm not even certain that I'm going to become king. Shinou seemed adamant about me going. I might as well go. Shinou must see something about me. Besides, I want to revisit there. Maybe my memories will fully return.

... ... ...

**Mei's POV**

I paced back and forth in the entrance of my mother's house. Yuuri will be going to Shin Makoku tomorrow. I didn't like it. I bit down on my tongue and glanced into the living room. Conrart and Yozak were sitting in there. I could only hear a little bit of their serious conversation. They were discussing safety for the trip. Also, I found out Wolf wanted to go with Yuuri so now everybody planned on going back. Why now? Why of all times did Shinou pick now to plan this little trip when things were getting increasingly worse? It was especially bad now. There were rumors going around that a few members of the Cimaron clan (**AN: Did you see what I did there? *nudge* *nudge***) were getting closer to the capital. Of course they were only rumors, but usually rumors have some truth in them. My point is that it is unsafe to travel there right now. I paused when I noticed the conversation in the next room ceased. I turned around to see Conrart standing in the doorway.

"Shinou might be awhile. Why don't you come and sit down in the living room with us?" he said, his fake smile plastered on his face.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm not exactly here on a social visit," I replied.

The smile didn't fade. "I know. I just thought you'd be more comfortable sitting and waiting rather than standing," he said as Yozak joined him in the doorway.

Just as I was about to decline his offer again, Shinou opened the front door and he froze at the sight of me. He sighed and closed the door behind him as he stepped into the house. I could tell he was readying himself to argue. I was about to talk when he stopped me by putting up and his hand and speaking.

"I know you're unhappy with my decision. Believe me. I've heard enough out of you these past few days to know. I think you've argued with me enough. You should give up before I really get annoyed because I'm not changing my mind. I gave him the option to decline. He chose to neither decline nor accept. It was his decision to go. I only supplied the transportation. If you have any further complaints, go take them to Yuuri instead."

I shook my head. "That isn't what I wanted to talk about.

"What do you wish to talk about then?" Shinou asked with a look of suspicion.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't believe I was about to say this. "I want to go. I want to go home with Yuuri and Wolfram."

**... ... ...**

**WOLF'S POV**

I stared incredulously at the sight before me. What was she doing here and why did she have luggage with her? I glanced over at Conrart, expecting it to possibly belong to him, but he had a small bag already with him. Same for Yozak. I returned my gaze to Meiline. She had a forced smile on her face.

"Good morning, boys. You didn't think you'd leave without me, did you?" she said.

"What?! You're coming with us?!" I yelled in disbelief.

"You're being a little loud, little brother. People are staring. Anyway, wipe that look off your face. Am I not allowed to go to the land I was born in?" she said.

"You swore back then that you'd never go back. You said nothing could make you go back," I said.

"I will correct myself. I have two reason to go back and both of them are standing in front of me about to go there," she said, her forced smile turning genuine.

I felt a sudden urge to cry. I looked away from her and swallowed, trying to rid of the feeling that something was caught in my throat. It was so like her. She always knew how to say the right things at the wrong time. We were in a crowded airport. I took a deep breath before looking back up at her. She was talking to Conrart. It sounded more like they were arguing. That's weird. Those two don't fight very often. I tried to listen, but they were stopped when someone walked up to us and told us our airplane was ready. It was a private airplane of course since there were never any flights to Shin Makoku. For as long as I could remember, no one could fly to Shin Makoku unless the queen or king and the ten nobles approved of it. The excuse given as the reasoning behind it is the civil war. I honestly think it's because Shin Makoku doesn't like new technology. Not many people have cars there. Most of the time, we still use horses to travel. I think that was the biggest thing that shocked me about when I first moved to Japan. There were so many cars everywhere.

"I really don't like flying," Yuuri groaned.

"Wimp," I muttered.

"That's an interesting name to call Yuuri coming from someone who can't even board a boat without completely emptying the contents of his stomach," Mei said.

Conrart chuckled at the comment along with Yozak. I glared at the three of them and gave a warning glare to Yuuri, who was grinning.

**... ... ...**

**YUURI'S POV**

I looked out the window of the small airplane. All I saw below us was a big expansion of blue. I've seen the ocean numerous times, but this was a whole new experience. Everywhere I looked, I only saw blue. I didn't know whether to be angry or scared. I've been on airplanes, but never over an ocean that I can remember. The height off the ground still scared me, but this was definitely amazing. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I tore my gaze from the window when I felt Wolf shift beside me. I muffled a laugh when I saw him. I guess it wasn't just boats that made him feel sick. I really hope we don't have any turbulence. Poor Wolf. I reached over and squeezed his hand. He glanced at me with his paled face and frowned at me. He jerked his hand away from mine.

"I don't need to be comforted by a wimp," he muttered, but I could see the faint blush on his face.

~**a few hours later**~

I thought I was amazed at the huge mass of blue that was the ocean, but I was mistaken. The expanse of green below me was mesmerizing. I've never seen so much green before. A few houses were dotted amongst the green and there was a small town here and there, but a majority of the land was green. Conrard pointed out the capital as we drew nearer to it. I smiled when I saw the castle in the distance. Shin Makoku was one of the few places where royalty still lived in medieval castles. I couldn't wait to go inside of it.

We didn't land in the capital. Since the country was in a war, it wasn't safe to try and land in the capital even if the plane held three of the Queen's children on it. They wanted to take every precaution possible. We landed in a field and was immediately greeted by and entourage of at least thirty soldiers. Gisela sat on a horse amongst them. When she saw Mei, she dismounted off her horse and ran over to her with a big smile on her face.

"Lord von Christ told me you were coming. I didn't believe him. I'll have to apologize when I see him next," Gisela said, grabbing Mei's hands.

"Please don't be so formal when talking of Günter. He is your father. It makes everything awkward," Mei said, sighing.

My jaw dropped. That gorgeous lavender-haired man, who clings to me every time I see him, has a daughter. And his daughter is Gisela! What?! How old is Mr. von Christ? I didn't think he was old enough to have a kid Gisela's age. Suddenly, a thought popped into my mind. What if he was still in school when he got Gisela's mom pregnant. What if he was a rebellious teen? (**AN: insert one of those cliche Japanese ganster students with the long jackets and scars on his face, etc. I'll let your imaginations run wild with this one. I had a fun time with this image. I even drew it, but it looks horrible T.T**)

"Gisela's adopted," Wolf whispered.

The mental image of Mr. von Christ shattered. I snapped my mouth closed and laughed at myself. What was I thinking? Mr. von Christ seemed like the type that would cry if he stepped on a flower. I nodded to Wolf. Since I was too distracted with Gisela and the mental image of Mr. von Christ, I failed to notice the horse a soldier was guiding toward us. Wolf took the reins of the white horse from one of the soldiers. I don't think I've ever realized how huge horses were.

"Since you're such a wimp and you probably can't ride a horse, you can ride with me," Wolf declared.

"Actually, we brought a horse for Yuuri," Conrad said, guiding a beautiful black horse toward me.

"You brought me a horse?" I questioned, incredulous to the riding of riding one.

Conrad handed the reins to me. "His name is Ao."

"Ao," I repeated. "I like it."

"Of course you would like it. You named him," Wolf snapped for some reason. (**It's obviously because he's unhappy you won't be riding with him, Yuuri.**)

"How did I name him?" I asked.

Wolf sighed as if it was common knowledge. "Mother thought you needed a horse the last time you were here. Since you visited every year, she thought it would be easier if you already owned a horse rather than finding you one to borrow. She asked you what color horse you wanted. You said black. She loved that you picked a noble color even that color was usually only reserved for mother. She wanted to make an exception for you. When she asked what you wanted to name it, you said Ao. She was delighted. She had asked your parents were going to come visit next, so she could have it arranged that you'd have it by then. It never happened since you never came back. When mother decided she was sending me to school in Japan, she thought I'd..." he trailed off and looked at Mei. "She thought we'd find you and there might be a slight chance you'd come visit. She was right."

I smiled. "I'll have to thank her next time I see her."

Wolf's eyes narrowed. "If you flirt with my mother, I'll kill you."

"I'm just going to thank her for the horse. Nothing else. I promise," I defended.

"Prove it," Wolf snarled.

"How?" I asked.

"Kiss me," Wolf said, causing several heads to turn in our direction.

"Wolf..." I started as everyone looked away nervously.

"Prove it," Wolf demanded.

"Not now," I pleaded.

"No, Yuuri. I want you to prove it," Wolf stated, his mind clearly made up.

"Later. Okay? I promise I'll prove it later. Just not in front of all of these people," I whispered.

"Fine," he pouted, but I saw a small smile behind the pout. He had won and he knew it. He gets spoiled way too much.

**... ... ...**

**MEI'S POV**

I glanced around nervously. I wasn't going to the castle, but I was going to join the rest of them up until the road to the castle gate. Instead of going to the castle, I was going to head toward my family manor and meet up with my uncle to see how he was doing since his health was taking a bad turn. Was he going to be able to attend the meeting of the nobles? I prayed I wouldn't have to take his place. My opinion would be very biased and I didn't want to do that. It would be unfair. As much as I didn't want Yuuri to become king, I couldn't do something as cruel as making Yuuri out to be a bad person. I slowed down as we neared the crossroads. I ended up riding beside Conrart. He wasn't particularly fond of my plans, especially since I didn't want anyone wo come with me.

"Why don't you just stay at the castle? Lord von Radford will be at the castle in a few days time anyway," Conrart said in one last plead to keep me at the castle. He wasn't going to let this go easily. The whole trip here, he'd been nagging me to stay because it was too dangerous as a princess to ride alone with no protection. I can understand his concern, but I can protect myself pretty well. I had three of the best teachers, one which was himself, and he knows that. Plus, there's a grave I've been needing to visit.

"I'll be fine, Conrart. Besides, I think you should be ashamed that you can't trust one of your pupils by herself and it's basically an insult to Günter," I replied.

Conrart sighed. "Alright, but come back before the meeting of the nobles. I doubt those two will be very accepting of your disappearance especially after your little speech at the airport. Wolfram looked as if he was going to cry," he nodded his head toward Wolf and Yuuri.

"I know. Just tell them the truth. I'm checking up on my uncle. As much as I despise that man, he's my dad's brother. I think I'm going to go while they are clueless," I said, turning my horse to the left at the crossroads.

Conrart waved after me. You better watch over them carefully big brother. Not only are you looking after the two potential king candidates, but you have the two most important people to me in your care. I glanced back before I rode away to see Gisela staring after me. Even from this distance, I could see her glassy eyes. She knew this path well. She had mentioned she visited his grave every day since his death. It was the path to the graveyard. The same one we took during his funeral procession. I smiled weakly at her and turned back towards the road. It's time I faced the reality of the world. People stared in awe as I passed. It's not that I'm pretty, it's because people knew me. I wasn't just the princess. I was the princess that called out the queen for be a lousy and terrible person. I was the princess who lost her love because of her brother's careless mistake. I really hope Wolf keeps standing tall and ignores the rumors. After all, they only knew half of the story. I but my lip when I saw James's family race out the door. I smiled weakly at them. James's brother looked a lot like him. I quickly looked away. I didn't want to cry in front of them. At the next crossroads, I turned right and left the town behind me.

... ... ...

**WOLF'S POV**

I laughed when I saw Yuuri's reactions to every in the castle. He touched the walls, stared at the tapestries, and opened the doors to random rooms just to stare at how big the inside of the room was. In the middle of me showing him around the place I've always called home, he disappeared while I was walking ahead of him. I called for him, but there was no reply. That wimp! Why does he have to do things like that? I take my previous thoughts of him being a great king, he'll be a troublesome king. I walked over to a window and looked down at mother's garden. I was about to turn away when I spotted a head of black hair. You just wait there Yuuri Shibuya! When I get down there, I'll kill you. I bet you went down there to flirt with some of the maids. I saw the way you were looking at some of the maids earlier. You cheater!

In a few minutes, I was standing at the doorway to the garden. Yuuri saw me and smiled at me. What? What was he smiling for? He walked over to me and pulled me over to where he had previously stood. He let go and stood there smiling like an idiot.

"What are you doing?" I asked, suspicious of his attitude.

"Wolf! I remember this place! This garden! I remember!" he yelled excitedly.

I was shocked by his enthusiasm. "That's great, Yuuri! What is it that you remember?"

At that, Yuuri's excitement fell. He looked away from me and gave a nervous fit of laughter. He scratched the back of his head and avoided looking me in the eyes. I gritted my teeth. He only acted like that when he didn't want to tell me something. For the second time, I was about to yell at him. There was no way I was going to let anything slide this time. Yuuri's next actions caused me to stop. He was pulling at the chain around his neck. Without looking me in the eyes, he held the ring that was on the chain up to my face. I felt myself blushing. For the first time in my life, I felt speechless. He let the ring fall back on his chest.

"Come on. I'll show you my room," I said, turning away from him.

I didn't look back to see if he was following or not. I couldn't. I was too embarrassed and it annoyed me. I quickly walked through the corridors. The path was so familiar that I didn't have to think about it. I missed this place. The mansion in Japan just wasn't the same. These halls held so many memories, both good and bad. When I reached my bedroom door, I held onto the handle for a few moments. Yuuri hadn't been in my room in a long time. I felt nervous and I hated myself for it. It's not like we were going to do anything. I was acting like a girl.

"Wolfram?" Yuuri's voice said softly behind me.

My thoughts were immediately broken. Yuuri had followed me. I shook my head and opened the door. It hadn't been very long since I left, but it felt like it and everything was in the same position as when I left except for a few books and pictures I had asked Conrart to grab for me when he came to Japan. I watched Yuuri as he explored the room. He lingered a little longer on the pictures than everything else. I guess he was looking for a picture of when we were younger. He wasn't going to find them there. I had kept those pictures hidden in a storage closet. I used to keep them out, but they only upset me and reminded me to Yuuri, they were forgotten memories. After Yuuri finished his exploration, he turned toward me. I smiled.

"Yuuri, do you remember what we were talking about before?" I asked.

He gave me a puzzled look. "What?"

"Prove it," I repeated from earlier.

His face paled. "Right now?"

"Yes," I replied, walking up to him so our face were only a few inches apart.

He backed up and I followed him to the wall. He had nowhere else to run. He started to fidget and avoided looking me in the eyes. He's so useless. He promised and backing out of a promise like that is incredibly wimpy. I was about to kiss him myself when something shocking happened. No, it wasn't the fact that Shinou had barged in the precise moment (he does that alot) or that an angry Shori was behind him. It was the fact that for the first time, Yuuri Shibuya kissed me.

* * *

><p><em>:3<em>

_I made it longer than I usually do only because I had what was supposed to me the next chapter written about a month ago and when I finally had time to type it, I got my job and I've slowly been typing it during my free time. I yelled at myself this weekend and told myself I wanted it done before I have to go to work on Monday morning. I finished it Saturday, but I decided to continue a little longer as an added bonus and to make up for the fact that I'll probably won't update this next month because I haven't updated my other story in awhile._

_Question for all on a personal level: If you all didn't know, I'm a woman. Anyway, I live with a guy. We're only friends. He's got a girlfriend. I might be getting a boyfriend if things go well. Both of other halves don't have a problem with us living together. Other people do though. Usually things like that don't bother me, but recently the mom of my roommate's girlfriend has called me a slut and accused Ryan of cheating on his girlfriend. What is your opinion of men and women living together if they're not together? I won't take offense to anything said. I'm just curious._

_I love you all. 3 As always, feel free to PM me if you want to ask me anything. I always write back._

_Also, I was thinking about making a tumblr, but I don't know if I should. I was thinking of doing it to have posts of where I got the ideas for some things in these stories, but I'm not sure. Would anyone think that's a good idea? I think I'm going to make one anyway even if everyone thinks it isn't. Just for random things and not so story based._


	20. SUMMARY Ch 1-19

**This is simply a summary! Feel free to skip past it if you don't need a summary!**

Since there are nineteen chapters before the next chapter and it's been a year, I thought I would make a summary chapter so those who have already read the previous chapters can remember what's happened without having to reread it all. Chapters 1 -19:

When Yuuri Shibuya was a small child, his family and him went on annual visits to a country called Shin Makoku (where I decided to situate between Hawaii and Japan). Yuuri had met and became friends with a girl named Meiline von Radford (Mei for short), daughter of the deceased previous head of the noble house of von Radford. Since then, Mei's uncle has taken over this position. Mei is, in fact, the only daughter of Lady Cecilie von Spitzweg and her third child, making her the older sister of Wolfram von Bielefeld. There is a strained relationship between Mei and the rest of her family that involves a young guard named James. James, whom Mei was in love with, had died under circumstances which are believed to be at fault with Wolfram.

Ten years ago, Yuuri Shibuya had his last visit to Shin Makoku. During his return to Japan via boat, he had fell off when a blond child had pushed him. The identity of the blond child is still unknown. In the process of falling, Yuuri hit his head on the side of the boat, which caused him to lose his memories. This information was left unknown to Mei and the others for two years until Shori Shibuya had sent a letter to Mei while she was living with Bob. While living with Bob, Mei had met both Shori and Ken Murata on several occasions, but never at the same time. During Murata's first visit, Mei had eavesdropped and overheard that Murata was thought to be a descendant of the Great Wise Man.

A few months ago, Yuuri was asked to transfer from his old high school to Julia Academy. There he meets some familiar faces that he can't seem to remember, but he starts to after some curious encounters - one of which is with Wolfram and after talking about it with his mom.. excuse me... his mama. Then, Wolfram becomes Yuuri's personal stalker. Meanwhile, Saralegui is slinking around and is said to be from the Cimaron group involved in the civil war in Shin Makoku. Sara is rumoured to the new king if the Cimaron group wins. It was revealed by Mei that Saralegui had a part in James's death, but she never specified how.

Wedding plans! Wedding canceled! Wolfram and Yuuri's relationship is becoming better. Uncle Waltrona and Grandma Shibuya visit! Yuuri invites Wolfram to the dance! Sakura tree make out scene was disrupted because Yuuri is a wimp and was scared by the bold Wolfram. The next morning, Wolfram wakes Yuuri and forces him to go on a "date" in which Yuuri runs into a few of his old classmates. They are shocked to discover Yuuri is friends with member of the royal family of Shin Makoku. Language barriers are a pain in the arse! Wolf stays the night! Shori comes home to find Yuuri and Wolf kissing in the bathroom. Enter Meiling from stage right! Serious discussion is serious between Mei and Shori. The war is getting worse in Shin Makoku and rumours are flying around that Yuuri is going to be asked to take the throne. Also, Mei's uncle is sick. Is she really that concerned? She doesn't like him at all, right? By the way, does Shori like Mei? He never gave Yuuri an answer. (Random fact: James and Shori are the same age).

School time. Wolfram blabbed that Yuuri belonged to him. Gasp! Gossip time! "Yuuri Shibuya! Wolfram von Bielefeld! Please come to the office!" Mei tags along. Shinou is there! Dun dun dun! Hey Yuuri! Do you want to become a king? Plane ticket! Anguish! *sings* ~Darling, you got to let me know. Should I stay or should I go now?~ (by The Clash) He's going to go and Wolf's going with him after a sleepover ;) Mei shows up at the airport and is all "Hey guys! I'm coming with!" much to everyone else's shock. What?! To Shin Makoku! Are you mad, woman? Eh. Whatever. Come if you must. Private jet flight! Time to ride some horses. Ao is so beautiful, isn't he? Riding through the capital with a bunch of guards and horses. Mei decides to split off from the group and heads to the cemetery. Conrart knows and disapproves, but doesn't say anything to the others. Wolf drags Yuuri through the castle to give him a tour, but instead basically takes him to his room. (We all know what you wanted to do Wolf.) Chapter 19 ends with Yuuri kissing Wolf to prove... he won't... flirt with Lady Cheri. Really? I wrote this?! Ah! Whatever! Desperate Wolf is desperate. He just wants some loving damnit! Anyway, Shori and Shinou storm into the room. Gah! All these stupid interruptions!

*wheeze* *wheeze* *gasp* And that's what happened so far. I hope I didn't leave out any important details. Anyway, go onward! The next chapter awaits you.

*turns on Should I Stay or Should I Go by the Clash and picks up a hairbrush* ~Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun! Wooo! Darling, you go to let me know. Should I stay or should I go? If you say that you are mine. I'll be here 'til the end of time, So you go to let me know. Should I stay or should I go?~ This song kind of reminds of Yuuri's and Wolf's relationship. *continues singing*


	21. Chapter 20: Repeats and Remembrance

_I've been gone awhile, but I'm back now. Sorry for the long wait. Rather than post it on my story, if anyone is curious about my lack of updating for a whole year, I posted on my profile a little paragraph explaining dated July 10. If you could care less, read on._

_**zeldahope9, soulxspirit125, **__and__** littlepanther:**__ Finally updated! Thank you for your reviews! They are always much appreciated!_

_**celine997**__: Thanks for the feedback. My friend Lyssa also suggested that, so that's what I did... for awhile. I couldn't take it after awhile and told Ryan that I was moving out. He wasn't happy at all and drama broke out between Ryan and his girlfriend. I didn't want that to happen. :( Anyway, it turned out his girlfriend was the cheater the whole time. I felt like I was watching a soap opera. I still don't live with him though. Instead, my friend Motzy took me under her wing. She's a doll._

_Disclaimer: I don't own KKM!_

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><p><strong>WOLF'S POV<strong>

Shinou cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt your alone time, but we have a small situation."

"Get away from my little brother!" Shori shouted.

Yuuri quickly pulled away from me and slammed his head against the wall. He cringed and rubbed the back of his head. Suddenly, his eyes snapped in my direction, his eyes widened in shock. His eyes were probably as wide as mine. Yuuri kiss me. He kissed me! Yuuri slowly pushed me away from him. I could feel the warmth of his hands through my shirt. I tore my eyes away from him as that burning sensation of a blush appeared on my face. I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to get myself to focus. I'm so happy, but there was clearly something wrong. I saw Yuuri's eye look to Shinou and Shori and then back to me. He still had a shocked look on his face like he didn't know what he was doing. I risked a look aver at the two intruders. Shinou had a tight grip on Shori's shoulders as Shori glared at me.

"Wh-what are y-you doing h-here, Shori? I th-thought you went b-back to Bob's," Yuuri said, stumbling over his words, but finally breaking the long silence.

I felt the heated gaze disappear. "Bob had some business here, so we came here instead. I heard you were coming here so we stayed behind for a little longer. Anyway, that's not important. What I want to know is the relationship between you two," I risked a glance to see Shori push Shinou's hands of his shoulders.

"Honestly, boy. You should pay more attention to details. They are engaged. They have been for a while now. How do you not know this? You call yourself Yuuri's older brother yet you do not know this detail." Shinou sighed. "As I was saying earlier, we have a small situation."

Both Yuuri and I looked to Shinou. Before he said another word, Shori spoke or rather he shouted angrily. "It's not just a 'small situation.' You lost a person. Not just any person, you lost a princess. Why wasn't anyone keeping a better eye on her? She's reckless. Something bad will happen. I know it."

"Honestly, it will take a lot for any harm to come to my niece. She's a strong one. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Shinou informed, sighing at Shori.

"I don't think you know your niece as well as you think you do," Shori growled.

"Excuse me! She's my family! I know her better than you do!" Shinou glared at Shori.

"You've lived with her for a maximum total of two years! I've lived with her for almost five! Are you sure you know her better than me?!" Shori continued.

"Wait. Shori, you've lived with Mei?" Yuuri asked, interrupting their argument.

Shori's head turned in Yuuri's direction. I could see a slight pink tinge on his cheeks. "Well, yeah. I've been doing my internship with Bob and I used to go observe him during holiday breaks during high school."

You could almost hear the click of Yuuri putting together the puzzle pieces. "That's why Mei and you get along so well. She also comes over to only see you when you come home and she goes straight into your room without knocking. I always thought that was a little odd."

"We don't get along, little brother," Shori said, slightly annoyed.

"You two fight like the old married couple that live down the street from us," Yuuri said, smiling.

"The Yamaharas* are a nice couple! They don't fight!" Shori yelled, his face turning pinker and pinker.

"You must be blind and deaf then, Shori. They fight all the time," Yuuri sighed, shaking his head at the memories. Memories that I didn't know.

If this wasn't broken off soon, this could escalate to a fight quickly. I decided it was my turn to intervene since Shinou seemed to lose interest. "Where is my sister?"

"That's what we would like to know. Have either of you seen her recently?" Shinou asked.

Meiline? Didn't she come to the castle with us? Did she panic and decide to stay with the airplane? Did she go back? No. She was riding with Yuuri and I for most of the ride to the castle. When did she disappear? I know she fell behind us at one point, but did I see her after that? Now that I think about, I didn't see her once we entered the grounds. By the dumb look on Yuuri's face, he couldn't remember anything either.

"I haven't seen her since we rode with her," I replied while Yuuri nodded his head in agreement.

Shinou sighed again. "That's what I was afraid of."

I bit my lip. I didn't want to say it, but it had to be said. "She probably ran away again. You know how much she hates this castle."

"Call the guards. We need to find her. I don't care if she can take care of herself or not. It's extremely dangerous for her to be playing around outside these walls. Oh. Call Gisela for me. They're best friends, correct? She might happen to know where Meiline has gone," Shinou said loudly.

"Yes, sir," a guard said, leaving his post outside the door. Shinou had a look of deep concentration on his face. His eyebrows knitted together in a V shape and a small frown was on his lips. Suddenly, his eyes looked up at me. Then, they slide over to the window behind me. His frown vanished and was replaced by a small smile.

"Thank you, gentlemen. You were a great help. I apologize for... interrupting. As you were," Shinou said, grabbing Shori by the back of the collar and pulling him from the room while Shori struggled against him.

"No! Not as 'as you were!'" Shori yelled.

**YUURI'S POV**

The door clicked shut and Shori's protests could be heard echoing as they traveled all the way down the hallway. I grimaced. Shori wasn't going to let this go very easily. I sighed and suddenly felt icy chills traveling down my spine, making me shudder. I slowly turned around to face the source of the icy chill. I immediately wished I hadn't because I was faced with a grinning Wolf. It wasn't just a grin either. Something about it made me cringe and I started to back away as Wolf slowly walked toward me like a lion about to pounce. His footsteps echoed loudly in the room. I swallowed nervously and continued to back away until my legs reached something solid. Unfortunately for me and very fortunately for Wolf, I lost my balance and fell back onto that solid something. It was the worst thing to fall on with Wolf having that predatory look he had on. He didn't stop his approach. Instead, he sped up a little and my fingers gripped at his silky bed sheets. My plan was to push myself farther up the bed then roll off and run for the door. My carelessly thought-out plan failed. It only made it easier for Wolf to climb on top of me. He leaned down towards me so our faces were close to each other. I had to make my escape and quickly. Since moving up didn't work, I started to wiggle my way down. Wolf clicked his tongue and sat down on my waist. I really didn't want to do this. Not now. I'm a virgin. I don't know how to do stuff like that. Was he planning on taking my virginity? How? How the hell can he do that? Is that even possible? Besides, now is not the time for something like that. I'm tired after the trip, it's the middle of the afternoon, and his sister is missing.

"Yuuri, you seem really distracted. Now is not a good time to be distracted," Wolf growled.

His hands were pressed against the bed on both side of my head. I was going to reply to him, but he pushed his lips against mine hungrily. His right hand lifted off the bed and it cupped my face. He was desperately trying to get me to kiss him back. I felt him frown into the kiss when I didn't comply. His hand released from my chin and he replaced it at the hem of my shirt. He had done that several times before. It wasn't going to work this time. I expected to feel his fingertips brush against my stomach soon. I jumped when I fell his fingertips pulling at the waist of my jeans. I heard the clinking of my belt. No way! He was really going to do it! I tried pushing him away. I heard the sound of a zipper. No. No. No!

As if on cue, the door opened and I saw a head of green hair walk in. "The guard said Shinou wanted to see me," Gisela said, not even slightly flinching at the position Wolf and I were in.

... ... ...

_What neither of them knew was that from the window Shinou looked out, you could only just barely make out the cemetery._

... ... ...

**MEI'S POV**

There it was. The name was etched deep into the stone. The dirt pile I remember wasn't there anymore. Grass had grown over it. Fresh flowers had been placed in front of the stone. They were lilies. His favorites. I stared at the dates and shivered. It was too soon for his passing. I clenched my jaw shut. My teeth were pressed so hard together, it started to hurt a little. My hands curled into fists and my nails dug into my skin.

"I haven't seen you for awhile, my dear. It's been a long time," a familiar voice said from behind me.

It was his mother. She must've followed me here when she saw me pass. " Too long, mom."

I bit my bottom lip at those last words. I haven't called her that in a long time. It was relaxing to call her that, but at the same time, an acidic taste invaded my mouth when I saw her reaction. She looked as if she was about to cry. She had the right to. I hadn't called her that since James died. I reached out to her and hugged her tightly. Her grip on me was so tight that I could feel her nails digging into my back. There was going to be bruises there later. I heard her gasp and the warm, salty tears dropped on my shoulder.

"Why? Why did you leave? I h-had lost a son, but when you left..." She hiccupped. "...you left, I lo-lost a daughter, too. I'm glad to see you back. I'm so h-happy to see..." She hiccupped again. "...see you. I love you like you are my own so...so please vi-visit more often. Jerald misses you and the children, too. Please. Please. Please," she said, stumbling over her words.

We stayed like that for about an hour when an angry voiced called out. "Meiline!"

I cringed as James's mother turned toward the source of the voice. I stayed too long. It was only a matter of time before someone came looking for me. Unluckily for me, it had to be Gwendal to find me. I stepped away from James's mom and turned to glare at him. He was on horseback with the entirety of his personal guard tagging along behind him. I sighed as I saw Uncle Shinou riding up with his own parade of guards. He waved casually at me as if he didn't have a care in the world. I glanced back to Gwendal. He looked furious with his face deepening closer and closer to the shade of a ripe red tomato. I shivered under his gaze as I felt the lecture bubbling up in this throat. I wasn't going to wait around to hear it though. I kissed James's mom on her cheek before getting back on my horse.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"What do you think you're doing out here?! It's dangerous to be alone! Do you have any idea how much chaos is spread throughout the castle because you are missing?! It's careless!" Gwendal shouted, his voice echoing harshly in the open space.

I ignored him and offered a hand to James's mom who looked absolutely petrified to move. If I had to go back to the castle, I was going to have to ride back by their store. I might as well take her back so she doesn't have to walk all that way. She flinched when she noticed my hand and I smiled at her. She glanced hesitantly in Gwendal's direction before taking my hand. I helped her up and she sat behind me. I felt a little bad that I had a saddle and she didn't. Her arms gripped tightly around my stomach. She had only rode a horse twice in her life. Both times were with me. I ignored the criticisms Gwendal shouted and rode past him.

"Everyone was really worried, " Shinou said softly as I approached him.

"There's nothing to be worried about," I muttered, continuing to ignore Gwendal.

James's mom squeezed me painfully. "Don't say that," she whispered, her voice hoarse from crying.

I immediately regretted saying anything. I patted her hands that were wrapped around me. Her grip loosened a little. As I continued to ride down the dirt road, I glanced back at the headstone. It shouldn't be there. I turned back around when Shinou appeared in my line of vision. He was giving me a pitied look and I glared at him. I didn't need his pity. Of course I was depressed about James's death, but his family is more worse off than me. I drowned out my thoughts before they could turn more sour and turned my attention to the clopping of the horse hooves against the dirt. A couple of the hooves started sounding louder and louder. I shifted my eyes to see a few of Gwendal's guards rode beside me and two were riding past me to station themselves in front of me. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Was he afraid I was going to make an escape? I have James's mom on the back of my horse. I can't do much in this scenario. I sighed. I came to Shin Makoku of my own accord. Let me do what I need to do. As we entered the town, faces turned to the huge group of us. A few townspeople bowed while a few others snarled at us for taking up the whole road. These stares were different than the ones I had earlier. These ones were filled with awe rather than sympathy.

"Come visit us before you leave," James's mother said as we stopped in front of their shop.

"I will," I promised, frowning a little at the whispers that immediately broke out amongst the townspeople. Didn't they have anything better to do than stand around and gossip?

I glanced around and saw that Gwendal's guards were distracted with the townspeople. I shouldn't have done that because Gwendal's eyes caught mine. His eyes narrowed and I patted my horse. He looked at the people around us and back to me as if daring me to try to make it through all these people. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's someone challenging me. Well, older brother, challenge accepted. I clicked my tongue twice and dug my heels into my horse. I felt bad for doing it. It must hurt, but I got the reaction I wanted. My horse neighed and reared up on her back two hooves. I gasped and pretended to panic while the townspeople scattered. I patted my horse as she darted through the roads. I laughed as we turned into an alley. Hooves of multiple horses were pounding after us. I felt like a bandit in one of those old western American movies running away from the cops. Too bad these cops don't realize that even if I haven't been to this town in years, I know the allies by heart. I had to find secret ways to sneak out a couple years ago. James and I used them to visit his family sometimes. It wasn't long before I couldn't hear the hooves of my chasers' horses.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, Eva. It's just you and me now. You remember dad's place, right? That's where we're going," I said aloud, knowing there was a figure hiding in the shadows. I was certain I knew who it was, too.

**WOLF'S POV**

I growled in Gisela's direction. Why is it every time I try to take Yuuri's and my relation a little further that people have to interrupt? It's annoying. Gisela paid no attention to my warning and waited for a response. As smart as she is, she must be dense in situations like this. Isn't it obvious? My hands are on Yuuri's zipper! We're lying on my bed! Yuuri's face is redder than a ripe tomato! Read the signs! Well, if she's not going to leave, I'll just continue with her standing there. I don't care anyway. I've had enough of these interruptions. I glanced down at Yuuri whose eyes were wide like a deer caught in headlights. Wimp. He shook his head at me and his eyes peeked in Gisela's direction. I sighed and lowered my body against him. His eyes darted back to me with an expression of panic on his face. I somewhat expected the wimp to yell at me by now, but he said nothing. This was nice. Yuuri wasn't fighting back. Well, he is a wimp. He probably doesn't know how. I inched my face closer to his and his eyes closed. I froze. This is surprising. He practically is inviting me to kiss him. Thank you for the invitation. I will gladly accept it. I lowered my lips onto his. He didn't push me back. Hmm. How will he react if I do this? I darted my tongue out of my mouth and licked his bottom lip. His mouth slightly opened. Whoa. Calm down, Wolfram. Something has to be wrong with him. This wimp is never this willing. I back away from him. I swore I heard him whimper a little. Wait. Wait a minute. Does he like it when people watch? I shook my head. That can't be it. Normally, he yells at me when I try to kiss him at school. I wanted to keep thinking about it, but Gisela clearing her throat drew me away from my thoughts.

"Are you going to tell me where Shinou is or are you going to keep pretending I'm not here?" she asked.

"He obviously isn't here. Could you leave?" I snapped.

She frowned at me. "Maybe I should tell your mother that you're attempting rape in your bedroom."

"She's not even here," I replied.

"Actually, she just flew in," Gisela corrected, grinning wickedly as a dark aura surrounded her.

She might be interrupting my personal time with Yuuri, but she can be absolutely horrifying when she wanted to."Shinou had a look on his face like he had an epiphany and walked out of the room. I don't know where he went, but he was looking for Meiline. Apparently, she is missing. That is all I know. Now, can you please leave and not speak to my mother of this?" I said quickly. "She'd probably try to watch," I muttered under my breath, missing the horrified look on Yuuri's face.

"Sure. Sure. It'll be a scandal if everyone found out the prince had intimate time out of marriage and the rumors will distract everyone from working. 'The prince was seducing the future king.' If everyone has time to gossip, they could spend that time training. Those lazy oafs," Gisela said, her voice becoming angrier and angrier.

Luckily, she left before her anger had time to reach its maximum point and the devilish Gisela appeared completely. I turned back to Yuuri who was lying perfectly still underneath me. As nice as it is to have Yuuri docile, something feels wrong about it. I pushed off of him and sat back on his legs. He blinked a few times and sat up so we were face to face. I glared at him as a confused expression spread on his face.

"What's wrong, Wolf?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, you wimp," I snapped.

He looked away from me and sighed. "Nothing."

"Nothing! You just allowed me to call you a wimp! Every time I kiss you, you run away or get upset. You hate public displays of affection and I was just kissing you in front of Gisela. You did nothing! Something is wrong and you better tell me right not! If it's something stupid, I swear I'll-"

"Maybe I decided not to fight you this time," Yuuri said in small voice.

**YUURI'S POV**

"Maybe I decided not to fight you this time," I whispered, refusing to look Wolf in the eyes.

I felt like those words were like signing my name on a contract, declaring I belonged to Wolfram von Bielefeld. To be honest, I wasn't in a situation where I could fight back at the moment. Wolf is a lot stronger than he looks and he had me pinned down. We've already kissed before. This wasn't anything new. Kissing in front of Gisela was embarrassing though. She'd definitely tell Mei the moment she saw her and Mei would tell my mom. I winced at the thought. Mom would complain that she didn't get to see it and take a picture. I shook the image of her scolding figure from my head and peeked up at Wolf. He was looking directly at me. I turned my head away from him, but I peeked at him. His mouth opened and I heard him breathe in as if he was about to say something, but no words escaped his mouth. The silence was unnerving and I wanted to tell him I was joking, but part of me warned me it would be an exceptionally bad idea. Wolf was the first to speak... or shout.

"Wimp!" he yelled, pushing himself off of me and off the bed, storming across the room, and slamming the door shut behind him.

"What did I do this time?" I asked aloud to the empty room.

...

**Guard #1 POV**

Wolfram stormed from the room, blushing up to his ears. A guard stared at him with curiosity, but didn't speak to him. The guards knew better than to ask Prince Wolfram anything. Last time one of them did, Eric ended up in the infirmary. The guard glanced at the room Wolfram just left. It was the Prince's bedroom. Gisela had been in there for a few minutes and she left a few minutes before he did. What could he possibly have been doing in there? Indecent thoughts crossed the guard's mind. He glanced in the direction the Prince was headed. Could the prince do something like that? With Gisela? The guard jumped as another called out to him. Apparently, Shinou and the eldest prince, Gwendal, had found Princess Meiline. He nodded as he heard a door creak open behind him. He spun around just in time to see the future king walking down the hall. The guard's mouth popped open. He wanted to tell somebody. The first person he thought to tell was Doria, but she was serving as a cook in the new school in Japan now. She loves gossip and would squeal if she heard this. He missed her.

...

**Mei's POV**

Someone was following me. I'm a little disappointed I'm not as great at escaping as I thought it was. Though, I doubt it is any of the guard so that left Gwendal and Shinou. Gwendal is basically in charge while mother is away and we are left without a king, so it could not be him. It was most definitely Shinou. I sighed to myself. He was better than Gwendal. He's keeping his distance. He probably wants to see what I'm doing even though I already announced it aloud. It would be best to ignore him for now. If I exposed him too early, he would definitely make me return to the castle since we were still close to the capital. If I expose him later, he'll most likely allow me to continue.

I decided it was best to keep to paths that were less traveled in order to avoid meeting with anyone that could make my travels more difficult. I stopped at a lake my father and I used to stop at whenever we traveled to the castle. I let Eva rest and take a drink of the water. Shinou still didn't approach me. I bet that silly man still thinks I don't know he's there. In the past, I probably would not have noticed, but I learned from Murata to notice things that would usually go unnoticed by common people. Murata always keen like that. He knew when something was happening like he could tell the future, but he just had exceptional observation skills. I told Bob once that Murata would become the real life Sherlock Holmes except more Japanese and less British. It made him laugh. I wondered how Bob was doing. He would most definitely scold me if he found out I did this. He was a silly man. I shook my head in attempt to rid any thoughts that could make me too nostalgic. Those type of memories are the worst. A person can spend hours remembering things without realizing how fast time is passing. I wanted to get to the house early enough so I could make it back to the capital before dark. While traveling alone is not the best idea I've ever had, traveling in the dark of night was an even worse idea. I refused to stay the night in the same location as my uncle.

"Are you ready to go Eva?" I asked, looking at my horse.

**Yuuri's POV**

I was lost. I thought Julia Academy was confusing, but this castle was at least twice as big. Every hallway looked identical with plain cement bricks and giant wooden doors. There were tapestries hung on a few walls, but they were scarce. I froze when I saw the painting of a dragon and its baby for the fifth time. The baby was cute and I decided to name it 'Pochi'. I could imagine Wolf scoffing at me for my immaturity.

"Where am I Pochi?" I groaned, sliding down the opposite wall and staring up at the painting.

I went after Wolf, but I didn't see what direction he went. I can't win with him. I refuse to do anything with him and he attacks me. I give up and let him do whatever he wants, he storms off.

"He can be a brat, can't he?" a soft said walking down the hallway.

Had I been speaking my thoughts aloud? "Mr. von Christ, what are you doing here?!" I asked, startled by my teacher's presence.

"Ah. While I took a teaching post at Julia Academy, my real job is to be the next king's personal assistant. You are a potential candidate so it is my job to see that you are taken care of. I'm deeply disappointed with myself that you have gotten lost. I am ashamed and will be gladly punished as you see fit, your majesty," Mr. von Christ said, kneeling beside me.

"Whoa! Are you serious?! Why would I punish you? I didn't even know you were going to be looking after me and don't call me 'your majesty.' I'm not a king yet," I replied.

"Oh. Another reason I have failed you, your highness! I hadn't communicated with you before I got here. I'm a horrible person! Bad Günter! Bad!" the lavender-haired man said with tears in his eyes.

"That's enough, Günter. I'm sure his majesty will forgive you," Conrad said, walking towards us.

"Definitely," I said, nodding fiercely and forcing a smile on my face at Mr. von Christ.

The lavender-haired man stared at me with awe. "You're too kind."

My smiled faltered while Conrad walked up to me and suck out his hand. I took it and he helped me stand. "How did you two find me anyway?"

"A few of the guards saw you wandering around. They wanted to ask if you needed help, but they didn't want to seem rude," Conrad answered.

"I wish they would have just approached me. I've been walking around for awhile and I think I'm walking in circles."

Conrad chuckled. "Should I let the guards know in case it happens again?"

"I would have asked them myself, but I didn't see anyone," I said.

"The guards patrol through the corridors in a loop, so if you were truly walking in a circle like you said, it would explain why you never met with them, your highness," Mr. von Christ explained.

"Where were you going, your majesty?" Conrad suddenly asked.

"I was trying to follow after Wolfram when he stormed away, but I didn't see where he went," I sighed. He was probably on the other side of the castle by now.

"Wolfram? I believe I saw him in mother's garden," Conrad said. "Do you want me to take you there?"

"Yes. Please," I said, relieved I wouldn't have to find my way outside by myself.

"Very well, your majesty. This way," Conrad said, pointing down the corridor.

"Conrad?"

"What is it, you majesty?" he asked.

"Please stop calling me 'your majesty.' You've known me since I was a kid. Call me Yuuri," I said.

Conrad smiled. "Of course, Yuuri."

I turned to Günter. "You should call me Yuuri, too."

"Very well and you can call me Günter," he replied.

We walked for a few minutes when I got a glimpse of sunlight. I almost cried I was so happy. It felt like I had been trapped in a prison in that maze. I should make a request that I can get a map of this place. Maybe I should always carry food with me in case I do get completely lost. As we stepped into the garden, that feeling of nostalgia came back. I saw the head of blond hair sitting on a bench with an irritated look on his face. Then, I saw Gwendal standing a few feet away from him with a matching expression. As we approached the two, neither of them acknowledged us. Instead, they held their expressions still.

"Is something wrong, Gwendal?" Conrad asked, concerned.

"That girl is so troublesome. Her and that uncle of ours are too much alike," Gwendal said through gritted teeth.

"You're just angry because you let her get away and Shinou decided to go with her," Wolfram snapped. "Unbelievable," he added in a mutter.

"What are they thinking? They are both idiots! Meiline should be able to wait two days to see that uncle of hers. I don't understand her. She despises the man, so why is she in a hurry to see him? And Shinou needs to be here to explain to all of us why he wants this kid to be our future king. He is a child and a foreigner on top of that. From what I've come to understand, he doesn't know a thing about this country except for what he's learned from Günter. Most of the nobles think this decision is outrageous. Lord Waltrona von Bielefeld has already voiced his opinion and is already suggesting Wolfram take the throne," Gwendal said, letting his anger get the best of him as his harsh words were spat out in his fury.

I frowned at each word the man said. He seemed frustrated, but it's not right to take his frustrations out on those around him. "What do you know about anything?" I asked as his intense gaze snapped toward me.

"What?!" he spat.

"I don't know a lot about Mei and her past, but I know she has a bad history with this country. It probably took a lot of courage to come back here and all you are doing is scolding her because she isn't here. She has her own reasons for coming here and she has her reasons for going to see her uncle. How do you even know she hates him? From what I've understood, you and her were barely ever together. Shinou has reasons for his actions, too and I want to know them just as much and maybe even more than anyone else here. I understand I am lacking in a lot of areas, but he must have a reason for this," I replied confidently.

Gwendal said nothing in response and just stared at me with a hard expression.

I bit my lip. "Rather than worrying about them. Isn't there anything else you could be doing?"

Gwendal snarled at me and stormed off in a manner that was a lot like Wolfram's. I inched behind Conrad in case the man decided to turn around and kill me.

"Relax. Gwendal won't hurt you. He is a little tense since the nobles are going to be coming here. A lot of arrangements have to be made," Conrad said, watching his older brother leave.

"Is anyone helping him?" I asked.

"Of course, you wimp. Why would anyone make one person plan the whole thing. That is nearly impossible," Wolf said.

For a second, I thought he wasn't randomly mad at me anymore, but his face returned to a scowl. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

Wolfram sighed. "Knowing you, you'd find a way to get into trouble. You have enough to worry about for yourself anyway. You have to somehow convince the nobles that you aren't just a wimp and someone who can rule a country."

"Wolfram's right, Yuuri. Gwendal was being truthful when he said that there are nobles who aren't very happy about Shinou's decision. If you are seriously considering this, the nobles need to be able to see how worthy you are and trust you. They are afraid of putting the ruling in the hands of an unworthy person."

"No pressure or anything," I said sarcastically, wondering how I could go about doing that.

"You already have nearly half of them accepting you. The others are just pig-headed fools," Wolf said.

Conrad frowned. "Wolfram, mind your words. Most of the aristocrats are already here. It wouldn't do you or Yuuri any favours if you insulted them."

"Oh. I believe they're pig-headed fools myself," a red-headed man said, approaching us. He had a strange likeliness to Miss von Karbelnikoff and was carrying a... chicken? The man turned to me and bowed his head. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your highness. My name is Densham von Karbelnikoff. You've already had the pleasure of meeting my sister, Anissina."

Anissina? Pleasure? Those words should never be used in the same sentence. I believe he should have said, 'You've already had the terror of meeting my sister, Anissina.' Wait. Sister? He's Miss von Karbelnikoff's brother?

* * *

><p><em>That's all for this chapter. Again. Sorry it took so long for the update.<em>


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